That New Blonde Chick
by CelestialLoverxxx
Summary: So, I'm in a new high school in a freaking new country with two new brothers. Everything's wonderful, thanks for asking.
1. Chapter 1

**One**

Sure, send a sixteen year old girl to a total new continent in the middle of her summer holidays, why don't you? 

Honestly, me being the sophisticated, noble person I am, deserved a moment to go make a fuss about it for a good ten minutes at the least. After all, a new high school and new norms and a sudden change really bugged me.

I swear sometimes I felt like Mom's life was like a series of How I Met Your Mother. If abrupt decisions and sudden changes weren't this annoying, they would be pretty much as hilarious as the show.

Who ships you across the whole country of Fiore to land up in a place called _Magnolia?_

It had been pretty good—my A grades and my girlfriends and the boy I had a crush on and the works. And then smack, I'm dishing out barbecue sauce and chips when Mom comes and goes— "I'm engaged."

And I'm like, "Oh. Okay. Wow." 

So she was like, "Honey…" Did _all_ adults have some 'how to look disappointed to blackmail your children' lesson when they turned into parents?

Obviously, then followed the cued gushes and squeals and hugs and 'that's _fab!_'s. Ever since Jude had died, Mom had been into things, but never really in it. Her whole life seemed to cling to that little part Jude left behind. That was until she met Allen at work—she worked for the newspaper—and there she was.

I really didn't have problems with Allen. He was pretty great to me, and had a funny side to him. And well, yeah. He made Mom happy for the whole of two years they were together, but the hot summer's evening when Mom broke the news, I can't say I was thrilled.

It was kind of hard to say goodbye to Levy. And to Pop, that was the nickname for our English teacher who was basically an old dear. And to the house and my room and the promenade and streets and the unwanted beetle on my windowsill who had _just_ begun to grow on me.

So I was stuck staring at Mom and Allen's delighted faces at the airport. My _dad's_ children—seventeen year old Adam and fifteen year old Zane—were not there.

I was quiet the entire ride to the new house, while Mom could not stop telling me all about how sunny and bright and cute it was. The plane ride had been particularly uncomfortable with an old dude snoring in my shoulder next to me, but fake-smiling all the way in the car was excruciating.

Allen, when he first saw me, went all; "Hey there kiddo!"

And I repeated under my breath, "It's adolescent, not kiddo."

Allen grabbed both my bags and hefted the backpack over his shoulder as I walked towards them, while Layla reached forward and hugged me.

Okay, yeah. I looked a lot like her—we had the same long, wavy blonde hair and chocolate brown eyes. We had the same stubborn set of the mouth and though Mom was way prettier and way more cheerful, I couldn't help but think how a leather jacket and combat boots would have made her an excellent Lucy Heartfilia clone.

Or Lucy Day. Whatever. Remarriage sucks, I tell you.

People stared at my leather jacket rolled up at the sleeves, my denim, cut-off jeans and white T-shirt splattered with yellow and brown designs and the words 'Too Fab' on it. I expected that they stared because I didn't take the jacket off—which is closer to my heart than my crush—in the blazing Magnolia sun.

Anyway, now that you get the gist of how I was pretty much picked up from home and barbecue sauce and dropped into Magnolia with two new brothers and endless heat, that was how my summer holidays ended.

I admit, the house was really quite cheerful. It was a two storey one, painted cream and yellow with the bottom portion—the gigantic living room cum kitchen—had its west wall made of glass so it stared out at the river on the west.

The house was wreathed by wild violet and yellow blossoms which drooped down all over the roof, and there were beautiful trees sheltering it from the heat. The chattering river behind the house, surrounded by cobble stones, red and green and blue pebbles, and the woody area was refreshing.

I stepped onto the wooden floors and looked around at the unfamiliar place. The river and the trees made it look like a house in the middle of the woods, only modern, with its wooden floors, polished marble counter, glass table and winding light wood staircase leading to the upper floor.

"Do you like it?" Mom gushed.

No. It was alien. "Sure." I gave a tortured smile.

Her arms wrapped around me as Allen bellowed up the stairs; "Adam, Zane! Get down here!"

"I promise you'll like it here," she whispered to me worriedly. "Lucy, really. This is a fresh start. It's so bright and happy here, you'll be fitting right in." 

Fitting in. Yeah, why not. I'm just a leather jacket, boots-wearing freak who just found out she has two bros and a new school. Fit in, that's me.

A tall boy came slowly down the stairs first. When I met him at the wedding, he had reminded of a slightly deranged runaway movie actor, but I kept that to myself.

Adam had crisp brown hair, cropped up yet messy and the kind of face Levy would have killed for to kiss. You know, the high jawbone, arched eyebrows, lean kind. Me, I was just worried about whether he used deodrant.

"Hey, Lucy," he greeted, extending a hand. I sighed and shook it. "What's up, Adam."

"Um, yeah. You know, you're here." 

"Oh yeah. That's up."

And that is pretty how much our conversations went. I know, it's not awkward at all. All this comfortable talk just makes me fit right in.

Then Zane came bounding down the stairs, a pair of headphones slung around his neck, his dark black hair like Allen's all over his forehead. He was wearing a sweaty gray T-shirt which smacked right into me as he gave me a huge hug.

"Hey there, sister!"

Oh save me from this ruthless T shirt. "Hey Zane."

He talked more, laughed more, and was overall a better brother than bored Adam in the background, who was busy looking out of the ceiling to floor glass window.

Once the initial politeness about how my flight was and whether I smoked or not was over—you know, the usual—I was introduced into my room by a hyper Allen.

My room, I am sorry to say, was miles better than my old one. It was the wooden floor and white furniture with my own balcony overlooking the river and private computer I always wanted. The dresser with the lace border and mirror and the window opposite my bed—gee, Allen, thanks.

And the first thing I did once Allen beamed at me and went downstairs was to apply an extra dose of Secret deodorant all over my body.

The last few days of the holidays I wandered around the sunny streets, trying to find friendly faces among the unknown crowd. You know, people who don't stare at you and hush "_That's_ the new kid!" which was a huge bugger in small cities like this.

On the first day of school, I was woken up with the sun roasting my face and Allen hollering up the stairs for the three of us to get up. I'm sure the entire stinking city was up and awake by then.

"Geez, shout louder, why don't you," I muttered, rolling onto the floor. It took me a whole of two minutes to throw a pair of black denim shorts, a white sleeveless Tee, yank a comb through my hair and come down.

Guess what? I dressed faster than the boys.

At any rate, fifteen loud complaints later I was squashed between Zane and his Science model in the back seat of Adam's car which he fondly called Crab.

Yeah, you read that right.

So Crab went at a fast ten miles per hour until I glared at my step brother driving. "Can't we go faster?"

He glared right back. "She's old." 

"He's still begging Dad for a new car," Zane stage whispered to me. "But he said no, so Ad's trying to save up."

I kept my mouth shut for the entire journey—mostly because Zane didn't give a damn about whether I cared or not as he spoke eagerly about his Science model and all that big man's stuff. My dirty white bag was on my lap; Adam had generously given me his tattered, doodled on—and possibly drooled on—books for my year which were now stashed in it.

When the car pulled up in front of Jadeites High School, it was pretty late. The school was, well, different in Magnolia. The sprawling green campus with its sit-out cafeteria and bright banners around the red-brown brick building seemed pleasant.

Sadly, that thought was banished once I set foot into the grounds. For I was greeted with a huge pink banner held by four eager boys and girls.

The kind words of _Welcome Loony_ were scribbled on it.

"What the hell is that?" I said.

One of the girls looked genuinely hurt. "Well, we heard you were coming, so…well we thought you'd like this, Loony!"

"Oh. Yeah, thanks. It's Lucy."

So you get the idea of how fab my day started.

Lots of normal, banner free people greeted me inside the building. One boy, Gray Fullbuster told me that there were a couple of nerds who did that banner thing for every new kid. You take one look at Gray and you can bet half a penny that he's a jock through and through.

Oh right. Sorry, forgot to mention the part where _everyone_ who greeted me addressed me as Loony.

My mom's voice wasn't that bad on phone that it would sound like Loony instead of Lucy, would it?

By the time I reached the principal's office—my step brothers had conveniently vanished the second I came in—I was exhausted already.

Makarov was a kind old dear, really. He had funny tufts of white hair around and behind his pointed ears and a fab moustache. He was short but for a man that wizened looking he sure had a lot of energy. He wasted no time in giving me a schedule, asking me about myself, directing the classes and then all but kicking me out.

See? That's what people should be like. Snap and done.

I would simply love to tell you that on my way to the first class—Physics, now isn't that a great way to start a Monday—I lost my way and ended up bumping into a super hot blonde boy with eyes that smolder and a smirk that melts you who later on decided to ask me out.

A little less interestingly, I walked right into a Mathematics class and dawdled near the teacher's desk, having misread the schedule Makarov handed me, and waiting for him to start with the 'oh, do introduce yourself!'.

He turned from the board and then stared at me blankly.

"Who are you?" 

"Uh, Lucy Heartfilia. Um, I'm new here."

And the teachers didn't even know about me. Yay.

"Oh, but you aren't due till the fourth period…" he looked confused until a girl sighed loudly and impatiently in the front row.

I turned to her, re checking the schedule with horror. How not embarrassing—the new girl doesn't know how to read a map.

The girl was staring at me with her mouth turned down. She had long, scarlet hair, blazing really.

"If I may, sir," she addressed the teacher. "I can show her the way to her class." 

"Yes, yes do that," he said dismissively.

A minute later the taller girl was pulling me along the deserted corridors, with the schedule sheet in her hand.

"Uh, hi?" I tried.

She looked at me as we walked. "It's Erza Scarlet," she introduced briskly. "And Lucy, honey, you really can't be late to Physics."

"Why?"

I didn't get to talk with her anymore when she pushed me hastily through the doors and walked off. And I knew why soon enough.

The teacher inside was tall, lean male with black hair falling over his forehead, kind of like a hotter version of Zane. He looked way too young to be a teacher.

"Why are you late?" he asked me sharply.

I had had a moment to catch sight of Gray in this class, when my attention was snapped back to him. "I lost the way…I mean I entered the wrong class." 

"Well. Detention." 

_Excuse _me, Mr. I Don't Have Mercy For Pretty New Girls?

"But I'm…new and…"

"And this is a school. Please take your seat Ms. Heartfilia and stay back after school." 

I wedged myself angrily between two girls, one of who sent me a note halfway through the infuriating class. A detailed diagram of shadows and opaque bodies and all that followed on the board, but I was too annoyed to pay attention to anything but how I hated Jadeites, until she pushed the note in my hand.

_Zeref sucks, but you'll get used to him._

I looked up at a sleek, white haired-blue eyed girl—damn right she had white hair, and _man_ could she pull it off well—who grinned back at me. "Mira," she said. "Mirajane."

"Lucy," I muttered back.

Then I scribbled back on the paper. _What kind of a name is Zeref?_

_Gray interprets it as asshole, but it could mean anything _Mira wrote back.

I stifled a laugh. Then she wrote down something else and passed it to me. _Sit with us at lunch, newbie?_

_You got it _I wrote back.

If you're seriously interested in my next classes and how the teachers were and what subjects I had, then you're insane and you might as well go home and think long and hard about your life.

I'll skip to good parts. The lunch where we could actually sprawl on the green acres of land instead of being subjected to the noisy building and Gray's jokes and all. The food left something to be desired, but you know, I survive. The group of Mira spent the lunch speaking animatedly of the school and the fests every year.

By the end of the day, I had learnt the names of our group—there was of course, Mirajane Strauss and Gray. Erza happened to be in the Student Council but she was friends with Mira, thus friends with me now.

The other three—the two boys, Laxus and Loke, and the girl Cana—didn't really talk to me much.

But it was my first day here, and nobody would be that eager to be best buds.

After the end of detention—which was literally nothing—I was walking out of the campus, totally on the idea that Crab had left me.

It had. I didn't exactly have phone to call someone, and I was stuck waiting for a cab, when I spotted someone from the school and in my detention walk right onto the street and in front of a zooming car.

And Lucy saved the day. Kind of.

"Damn it, look out!"

I threw myself against him, and landed hard on the street, me on top of him before I rolled him off away from the car.

Sadly, the car hadn't stopped. It screeched an inch away from me, went out of control, and my last thought was the fact that I couldn't even have a normal first day at school without being killed by a car.

Joy.

So you're probably wondering about how I woke up groaning and fluttering my mascara eyelashes in a hard hospital bed.

Well, sorry to disappoint you, but the silver car had stopped a half inch from my nose. Conveniently so that I got a face full of hot steam.

"Help." I muttered.

By the time the driver had got out and apologized to me a like a few oh, hundred times, I was up and about.

The boy I had pushed out of the way was bewildered, and now he went; "You saved me."

"You figured that out all by yourself?" I glared at him. "Are you on drugs, or what? There's _one _car on the street and you throw yourself right at it. Suicidal much?"

"I was…thinking…sorry," he said sheepishly. "I'm Natsu." 

"And I need a ride. Do you have a car?" 

He had pink hair, by the way. Well not exactly pink, more like a varying shade of red and tinge of pink, but pink all the same. He had this constant surprised slash shocked look on his face as he tried to figure out why I wasn't going all "Of _course_ I saved you, baby. You're so welcome!"

"I—yeah I do."

We had moved away to the side of street as the car who nearly killed me raced away, and I caught him glancing briefly at a red convertible behind him.

"Great. The house is on left of Crane Avenue, west of this Magnolia place. Let's go."

With that I took the keys from his hands, stalked right to the convertible, unlocked it, and swung inside the front passenger seat.

Natsu stared at me blankly until I snapped, "Well? What are you waiting for?" 

It was an enduring ride to the new house, because Natsu recovered from his shock of a car crash and his shock of me and didn't stop with the thank you's. I stopped trying to shut him up and admired the neat work of the car. He sure must be rich.

Then I remembered I was living with the Days and we were rich too. Ew.

When I reached the house, Natsu gave me a lopsided grin. "So, Lucy, is it?" 

"Mm hm."

"You free tomorrow night?"

My turn to stare. He was kind of good looking, in a way. You know, his hair was kind of messed up and he had this nice onyx eyes and his incisors were pointed in a fang way which I really had a thing for.

And was he asking me out?

Don't blame me. I have never been asked out or flirted with, and I deserved a moment, so back off, okay?

"Um, I guess…" I said slowly.

"Good. Do you mind hanging with me then?" Natsu asked casually.

"It's a school night, Natsu," I pointed out.

"Oh…how about Friday night?" 

"Sure."

And that was it. Snap. The next few minutes he had driven away and I was inside the house and yelling at my step brothers for not waiting for me, but woah, I was asked out by a hot guy on my first day here.

Fab.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello guys ;) I am so pleased that everyone liked the first chapter of this story so thanks to all those people who reviewed, favorited and/or followed :) **

**By the way, I may change from Nalu to Rolu or GraLu or back to Nalu later in the story, depending on my mood, but mostly Nalu, so don't worry ;P**

**Shout out to lucyglitter11, who has supported my every story (and loads of other things besides stories) ;)**

* * *

**Two **

In the morning Allen knocked on my door and I was conveniently snapped out of my wonderful dream which centered mainly around my crush as I woke up and groggily asked him to come in.

I was still half tangled in my sheets as he sat down on the edge of the four poster bed I _always_ wanted. The air got unnaturally chilly at night in Magnolia and me being the careful person I was, left the windows open through the night.

I know, I'm proud of me too.

Anyway, Allen said, "You're finally up, Sleeping Beauty." I wonder if Sleeping Beauty ever woke up in a baggy T-shirt and boxer shorts with messed up blonde hair clinging to her sleepy eyes.

"Say what?" I muttered. "How long did I sleep?"

"Long enough to miss school…" Allen informed me, half sternly. "But you have jet lag and we couldn't scream you awake, so Layla told me to let you sleep."

Missed school?

Hey, don't judge me, back off a few inches, okay? I don't generally _complain_ about it, but you know, I _did_ become rather popular unexpectedly yesterday. Let me bask in the fame as long as I can.

"So…" I started.

"So, you get a day off. Now come on, you gotta get up right now!" Allen got up, slamming his hands together.

I sighed. I didn't mind him, but he was not…I detested the idea of thinking of him as my dad.

He noticed my expression and then said softly, "You'll like it here, Lucy," I wish everyone would stop repeating that. "I—know it's hard, but I'll try my best. Even Ad and Zane, I promise you."

A lump formed in my throat as he reached forward to embrace me lightly. It still went weird but hey, the least I could do was co-operate.

"Thanks Al—I mean, Dad." I mumbled against his shoulder.

"You got it," he released me and then smirked. "I won't be kicking you out _that _soon Lucy, you don't have to worry."

I laughed.

So, yeah, hope you liked the father daughter mushiness and cuteness and all. You're welcome. I'll cut to the part in the noon when the house was like deserted—so much for everyone trying their best—and I was bored like hell.

Technically, there were no ground rules about going to the river, so maybe forgetting to lock the house as I went and roaming around like a tank-top-with-dirty-shorts-in-desperate-need-for-clothes attired female didn't exactly term as _sneaking out_.

I sat on the brink for a while, running my hands through the soft current. The water was cold and nice, and if I stood in it, I would go around calf deep.

Don't get me wrong. I am a pro at sneaking out to meet Levy and the gang at the café or follow one of Alec's constant impression of there being something 'deadly wrong' about some dude in school in the dead of night, or, if needed, kick the butt of someone annoying me.

The only problem was, with a sweltering thirty seven degrees in Magnolia, all I could think about was not getting fried into a miniature Lucy fry with extra blonde hair.

So don't blame me if, after Mirajane had gotten over at school, called me on the home telephone and asked me to meet them, and I accidentally :

a) forgot to lock the house behind me

b) conveniently left the phone hanging on the table, set apart from its hold, so there was no accessible way to the house anymore, as no one else (or their cell phones) was at home.

Heh. Oops. It happens, you know?

* * *

Yeah, okay. You're all 'How's Magnolia, Lucy?', I expect.

Well. Thanks for asking. Magnolia is big and it's hot. Matter solved.

Fine! Technically, my reflex fussy reaction towards being made to settle down into an unknown town with shrouds over corners unknown aside, it _was_ a pretty place. Downtown turned out to be this huge cheerful place, with a colorful splash of some house or shop or wreath of flowers which seemed to be galore in this new place in every direction.

There were all those cool pavement cafes and pizzerias with a fab look to the forest a few miles off from the upper, open windows. In the middle of the two stone pavements on either side, there was huge stretch of marble and green-with-random-flowers where you could actually hang if you weren't insane enough to want to burst an artery in the heat.

And Mirajane had conveniently forgot to mention the part where the rest of the group would also be there.

Dude, back off.

My point is, Mira was the sweet and friendly one. Kudos, Strauss girl. But her sister, and the others weren't exactly that way….so what, the new girl can't get shy just because she's wearing black boots in the sun?

At any rate, I actually began to settle down as we talked once we were inside the air conditioning of the pizzeria. The flow was natural, with Gray making one joke after another. Lisanna, Mira's sister, believe it or not, turned out to be the person I chatted with the most. Same music, same problem with brothers, same dislike for shopping—oh bless this girl.

"Why didn't you come? Mira thought you were sick or something, because you didn't answer the first time we called.'

"Oh," I said, fingering my Coke. "I was outside, by the river."

That awkward moment where everyone stares at you and you realize how lame you are followed.

"We got a nature lover," Gray teased. He had spiky black hair with ocean blue eyes, which had this gleam of mischief passing through them every other second. Mira and Lisanna had same light blue eyes; just the younger girl had short hair.

Cana—well let's just say she had the figure, the dark brown hair, the grey eyes, the tan and the humour and the hold for alcohol any girl would kill for. Oh and er, Laxus…um, hmm. Blonde, weird scars all over, angry looking, doesn't talk. Yeah, that's about right.

"Uh no, I was bored, so I went to see the river."

"Honey," Gray winked at me. "Normal people play with their PS4, Xbox, watch TV, or eat out when they're bored. Not sit beside by the water."

Lisanna rolled her eyes. "Ignore him," she helped me out. "I do, and it always helps."

"So why _didn't_ you come?" Laxus grunted. He mostly grunted to me.

"I had jet lag, I guess. My stepfather couldn't scream me awake," I quoted.

There was this obviousaw-she-has-a-_step_father-let's-change-topics hush over us, as Cana hurried onto what kind of boys I liked. I never got to answer because at that moment the pizzas arrived and to hell with talk.

There was, however, a point where Gray accidentally started to talk with his mouth full of pepperoni and extra cheese pizza and a great hunk of saliva coated cheese fell on the guy behind him.

Who, by the way, looked like a pro wrestler, I might add.

I'll save you the gory details.

Kidding, kidding. Sheesh.

There was a missing limb though.

Sorry, I'll stop.

Watching Gray, Laxus, Mira, Cana and Lisanna, I suddenly had this odd feeling of really, truly belonging here. It would all be, well, natural someday.

Damn, did I miss Levy.

It was around six when Mira had stopped asking me, aghast, why I did not prefer Mango to Vera Moda, no matter how much I tried to explain I found no difference in both brands.

They were dresses. They looked good. I didn't have money to buy them.

There. Solved.

My almost boisterous mood, after I had traded numbers with everyone in the group and tolerated the "You don't have a cell phone?! Teen, much?", dissipated as I walked through the front door of the lit house of Allen and the jocks.

Sorry, Allen and Adam and Zane.

Mom caught me first, and boy did I get it good. I mean, come on, second day here, and already my stepbrothers are watching me get scolded for leaving the house unlocked for three straight hours and freaking both my parents out by leaving the phone inaccessible.

Believe it or not, it was Allen who cut in calmly. "It's alright, Layla," he whispered in her ear. "She didn't do a crime."

Then to me he said, "But next time Lucy, do remember there are stuff in this house that can be stolen." And then he winked at me which meant the worst was over.

"Yeah, sorry Allen," I said. Then my Mom dirty glared me and I said hurriedly, "Dad! I meant sorry dad."

Adam was bored already, so he switched to texting again. Zane shuffled up to me as I trudged up the stairs and to my front door and said, "I could lend you Black Ops, if you'll feel better."

I ruffled his hair which he hated. "Nah, thanks, Zane."

Okay, fine. Brothers are _alright_, I guess. Whatever.

* * *

On Wednesday, when I was back in Jadeites High School (JHS), I had my first Biology lesson. Lisanna happened to be a grade lower, sadly, but Can turned out to be there with me.

As I walked towards the paneled-with-big-man's-stuff room, she greeted me at the door and then stopped short with a light gasp.

"What?!" I demanded. I half expected Zeref to stand at the back of the classroom and go all, "Yes, Ms. Heartfilia. Detention for getting a cheap bag and not a Gucci."

But Cana—who was dressed in this pretty summery printed white dress looking way too good on a hottie like her—grabbed my right arm and tugged towards the doorway again.

"That's him!" she whispered excitedly. My blonde hair, which I had tied up in a messy, unattractive bun today began to come loose as she pawed at my shoulders and caught the loose strands.

"Who's him?" I said exasperatedly. Dude, I came for a Biology class. Let's go, snap and done, hup, hup!

Cana pointed subtly towards this totally nonchalant boy with messed up rosy hair and a angled face with cast down, I'm sure, onyx eyes.

"Natsu?" I asked her. "What about him?"

She looked at me as I was insane. "What _about_ him?" She echoed. "Oh of course, you're new, I forgot. Well he's the best football player, he's already won us the two championships, he's a burning 100 degree C, and he's single."

"Uh huh."

She was clearly mad at my lack of interest until I added, "Well, he asked me out."

"He _what_?!"

At the precisely peaceful moment between two girls, the teacher walked in. His eyes narrowed at Cana Alberona, as she blushed in embarrassment at her outburst.

Miraculously, this dude was not another Zeref. He simply glared at the two of us until I found it safe to turn and sit—right beside Natsu.

Back in my hometown, one girl gushing to another about the boy she swooned over and the other one informing her that the boy asked her out would have resulted in an immediate 'I saw him first, bitch!'

Cana was all sunflowers and daisies. "Lucy, go for it!" she pumped her fist excitedly. Apparently in this town, the friend getting the boy had the same reaction, and I couldn't help but find a new admiration for this girl.

How, well, pure.

So anyway, I nudged the bored—and looking good, since hot boys usually do when they have a bored, absent look—Natsu Dragneel with my fingers.

He looked up at my touch and then shifted to a vaguely reminiscent expression. Then he went all, "Yeah?"

I swear I could've punched him right there.

"Natsu," I gave a soft smile, speaking as coolly as possible, regretting my hairstyle. "Wanna hang with us at lunch today?"

"I'm sorry, uh…Luna, right?"

Oh heavens above.

"Lucy," I smiled through gritted teeth. "It's Lucy, Natsu."

Somehow, I liked the way I said his name. Na-tsu. _Natsu_. NA-tsu. Natsu.

I know, I'm hopeless.

"Yes, Lucy!" Natsu gave me a half grin, though he was clearly thinking of something else, obvious from his distracted eyes.

"So, do you want to?"

"I don't mind," He said, and I felt like one of those gushing girls after the jocks and the jock turned out to be one of those you know, good-from-inside-sick-of-popularity ones and agreed politely.

My Biology book and sheet were propped up against the chair in front as I carefully copied the diagram we had been assigned, but after a few minutes I looked up at Natsu again. "So," I started lamely again. "Are we still on? This Friday, I mean."

"What about Friday?"

Give me a baseball bat. I hit pretty well.

"You know, uh, that day in the car? You wanted to um, go out on Friday night?"

Natsu hardly looked confused now, but his expression and his next words clearly stated… "Did I?"

…that he had hoped I would forget.

"Yes you did," I said patiently. Okay fine, not patiently, but I was close enough.

"Oh," he gave me an apologetic look. "I'm so sorry, Luna—er, Lucy, but I have plans that day. I forgot about it that day."

One thing which I have notice into every boy who turns you down is that they can _never_ think of a proper excuse and _always_ come up with the 'I have plans' in the heat of the moment.

Not that I have ever asked out, but I have been a witness to one too many turn downs.

"But thanks, for that day," he said again, trying to make amends.

I didn't speak to him anymore. I know, childish, but honestly, you save someone's life and they ask you out as a thank you and then ditch you at the last moment? Ouch.

But then, I got asked out by a totally hot guy on my first day at Jadeites. What had I been thinking?

Later, Cana said, "I'm going to beat his ass to the ground," and I put a restraining order on her.

"I thought you had the hots for him," I winked at her.

She glared at me with her sharp grey eyes. "Heh. I think I saw why I shouldn't, today."

Laden with a towering pile of homework—I mean, _dude_, it's the second day!—I reached home to find Adam and Zane had come home with Crab and left me with no ride again.

"Guys, _please_ remember I don't have a ride back home without that crock!" I complained as I dumped my bag down. I had hitched a ride with Gray sadly, and spending a car ride and listening to his nonsensical jokes and just-for-fun flirting was not fun.

Free advice when it comes to riding with Gray: Don't.

My stepbrothers, on a normal cue, would have sought that moment as the ideal time to say sorry. Instead, calling Crab a crock pissed Adam off.

"Don't call her that," he said in a flat out monotone. That's how he usually spoke, all drained of energy and anger, yet the irritation in his voice was clear.

And by the way, I might add, I really have this urge to kick Adam when he calls Crab _her_. Even at the wedding I had liked Zane better, but damn Adam!

"Well." I said. "What should call that lump of metal?"

That did it. Adam lunged forward to grab my arm and probably give me a lesson on how crocks and Crab were like Adam and sensible, but I punched him in the gut before he did that.

Uh, reflex reaction. "Sorry," I said, horrified, as the older brother bent double. "I just, got used to it, I guess."

"You punch every boy?!" he demanded, trying to straighten up and recover.

The awkward silence that followed was broken by Zane; "Cool!" He exclaimed. "Wicked cool!"

"Wicked all right," Adam grumbled. Then he addressed me with a dirty look. "Fine, we'll remember to pick you up tomorrow."

"It's just that, we're not used to you being around sis, so," Zane explained.

I had a total weird feeling when Zane said _sis_. Technically, stepsister, not _sis._

"Right," I coughed, a slow blush creeping up my cheeks in embarrassment. "Call me Lucy," I mumbled to the ground as I hefted my bag up and made my way to the stairs.

Only to crash back down the stairs and land on the floor again.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you all you amazing people, for supporting the story and reviewing :)**

* * *

**Three**

I remember the time when my friend Levy had accidentally brought about my fall on the pier from the ledge I had been balancing on, and the moment when I felt this cracking pain shoot up my spine.

And a second ago, I fell down the top stair of the staircase and had the same feeling.

I got news for you: When a giant Golden Retriever jumps at you at the top of the stairs, try not to fall.

I lay on my back, bag on my heaving chest, head having a merry dance with sharp stabs of the aftermath of being banged to the floor.

And on top of all that, the retriever stood with four legs barricading me on either side of my torso. Its hot breath smarted my face and as it tried to nuzzle into my neck.

"What the _hell_ is this?" I demanded angrily. Only I didn't say _hell_, but hey, I just got attacked off the stairs by a giant dog.

I felt one of the two boys pull me from under the dog and looked up to see Adam. Zane stood around gaping helpfully.

Once Adam pulled me to my feet and punched the bag out of the way, he bent to scratch behind the dog's ears. It nuzzled up to him now.

I acted intelligently—I stood there and stared like a geek.

"You guys have a dog?" I said at last. "And I know about it when Mr. Sunny almost kills me?"

"Well, his name is Blonde," Zane recovered and explained to me like the good boy he was. "And there is an 89.9 percent chance of the human body surviving a fall down a staircase which is not very high. There have been, in some grotesque or disturbingly angled cases, that there has been serious cerebral damage. You know, since people generally fall down backwards and hence the head is hurt first. However, judging our stairs, you would have resulted with a fatal injury to your neck I suppose, which you have luckily avoided."

I swear I felt like simply stabbing Zane, Blonde and perhaps myself with the butter knife _just_ to save me from Magnolia.

Adam rolled his eyes at his younger brother, standing straight up with the dog drooling all over him.

"He's Yukino's dog," Adam told me. "He sneaks in through the back and goes into my room sometimes."

I don't even want to know what is there in his room for which a dog would go through the trouble of sneaking in and up the house to go into it, but I made a mental note never to enter it.

And some Yukino chick's dog roams around in the Day house? Gee, that's not insane at all.

"Lucy, meet Blonde," Adam said. His crisp brown hair fell over his eyes as he bent over the dog.

"Blonde, meet Lucy."

Blonde yapped happily at me.

And since I loved dogs when they were not trying to push me off the stairs and kill me, I melted at his forlorn brown eyes and got him a bowl of Frosties cereal.

The next hot evening, Allen informed us when he got back home from work—he was in a different department than my mother hence came late—that there would be barbecue get together next door at the Aguria's.

Once I finished snorting my way through my Coke at their name, I was told that Blonde belonged to them.

So I slipped into a sleeveless white dress, sandals and followed the rest of the huge family to next door. They had this wicked cool garden in front of a ochre lit kitchen, you know, the kind where you have pool parties? There was a barbecue stand in the west and two deck chairs with a carpet on the grass.

Sure, let's burn coal in 40 degree C, why don't we?

At any rate, it was the first time since I saw Adam _not_ texting away once Yukino stepped out. His voice became this tone I had never heard before and he became all confident and talkative once she approached, and it didn't take a genius—or Zane—to figure out who he was so busy texting all the time.

'How was Yukino?' You may ask.

Again, thanks for asking. She was rude.

"Hey, I'm Lucy."

"Yukino."

"So, nice house you got there."

"You have the same kind, dink."

So you get the gist of how pleasant she was and how eager she was to make the new girl feel comfortable.

The interesting part of the evening rolled around, when Yukino's mom went all, "Oh, Yui, won't you show Lucy around a bit?"

I was pretty damn sure she meant show me around the neighborhood, which was stupid since wasn't it obvious that after being here for like a week I would have seen it? But Yukino either thought the same thing, or was plain dumb and misunderstood, because she tugged me along the back and into the house to show me around _her room_.

Yeah no, I'm not going to comment on how amazing the house was. Just go into the nearest rich guy's den and see for yourself. You know, self service?

Yukino's room was painted pink and white with flowery wallpaper plastered to the white ones. It was the typical girlie kind, until you noticed the heavy metal posters behind her bed.

Then she noticed her laptop's light blinking and immediately stationed herself to it, telling me carelessly as she typed away as a reply to her beeping message; "You can do anything you like."

Well. Great.

And then, as I bent down to take a look at the CDs in front of her music system, I saw one wedged accidentally between the pages of a violet diary. I pried it off; recognizing the name of the band, when I caught sight of the word _Natsu _on the particular page the CD had been lying on.

Alright fine, don't give me that look, okay? I don't read people's diaries, but well, that caught my attention.

_And doesn't it suck that he's only in like, three classes with me this year? _Yukino had written. _I don't even get _when_ he'll actually start thinking of me as more than a friend. After all, I didn't do all that to Lis for nothing. I mean, I _am_ a bit surprised that he didn't immediately realize it was me he should choose anyway after he you know, found out, and—_

The diary was snatched up from my hand as a blushing Yukino stood and glared at me, her eyes cold. "What," she said. "Do you think you're doing?"

"Your CD was stuck and uh…" Could I get any lamer?

"I think Mom is calling you," Yukino told me, opening the door behind her and still with that angry, furious look. "I distinctly heard her."

Taking the hint and the chance to escape her expression, I hurried past her. My heeled boots made me slip as I jogged down the stairs, but I held on. Like I said, I have had loads on practice sneaking around. Like the time Levy and I were frozen mid-step in my former school's locker room when we saw the flash of torchlight and _I _created the distraction by empting the contents of Anna Mel's locker and raced past with Levy to save her. In the boots.

Long story. Later.

Lis? Lisanna? Or someone else?

So you can probably try to understand why I was so distracted the rest of the night and didn't notice it when I was holding the side of the grill for so long I burnt my finger.

After Adam and Mom both dirty-glared me at the same moment as I said, "Ow?"

At one point, I noticed Yukino too engrossed in Adam's words. My stepbrother was all for his sexy voice and sexy look and trust me, whether Yukino may think it's true or not, I kind of feel like puking at the thought of Adam being sexy.

Blonde singled me out as the angel who would willingly give him the chicken pieces, but I didn't have much of an appetite, so I just gave it to him whole.

Anyway, you know how I mentioned I can be stubborn? Well, heh; I kind of snuck back through the open deck-out and raced up to Yukino's room again.

Her diary was not where it had been. Surprise.

Then I looked around and stopped at the laptop, still blinking its lights. It was not closed properly; I went over and perched on the edge of the gigantic lacy bed much too posh for my simple taste and noticed the diary not even hidden between the pillow behind it and the laptop keyboard in front of it.

I rolled my eyes. Obviously Yukino didn't expect me to come hunting for a stupid teenage diary again. I mean, seriously? Diaries, at sixteen?

Yeah okay, I know what you're getting at. But I'm not a princess, I don't have a vampire boyfriend and nor do I go describing my life with the help of stick figures. So, what's the point of having a diary?

Unless, stuff like this, of course, is revealed. I fingered through the pages, skipping mindless scribbling and hearts until I reached the particular page.

—_and come on, I sit right beside him. Well, to be honest, he kind of looks more depressed these days. I thought the Sting thing would really get to him, and of course, he did break up with her and all. But how long does it take for a guy to move on? I mean, I remember the time when Sting and I…because of Lis, but I didn't mope around, right? Natsu should really get a hold on himself._

I turned the next page, but there wasn't anything written there after a few more lines about me.

_This new girl, Lucy Day or something, she seems like the cheerleader type, blonde and tall and all. I heard Natsu is with her in most of the classes…isn't she a lucky bitch? New girl's luck, I suppose. _

This was the latest entry. And she was obsessed with Natsu to the point to drag him into a paragraph about me.

Knowing and having a shred of idea of caution, I arranged it exactly the way it had been and crept down the stairs slowly this time. Then I went to the kitchen sink, splashed water over my face so that my hair glistened with the beads and walked out. At least, if Yukino was not too busy ogling my stepbrother's abs, she'd think I went to the washroom.

Now. Who the hell was Sting, and what the hell was going on with Natsu and Yukino?

* * *

"Hey, Mira," I smiled at the albino girl as I sat down next to her, speaking softly in the quiet shrouds of the library.

Her baby blue eyes fixed onto me as she grinned. "Newbie," she greeted callously. "What's up? I though you preferred staying out in the sun in the break instead of, well, here," she gestured around to the gloomy place.

The library in Jadeites was, well, gigantic. There was a whopping total of two computers in this huge haven for readers. Though the library at my last school had basically been a make out place. I still feel grossed out when I remember the two sophomores going at in under one of the isolated tables.

It was the fourth day of school and already I found myself most comfortable with the Strauss sisters and Cana. After a hectic few days, I finally got a chance to corner Mira.

I noticed Mirajane was working on a project, her fingers flying on the computer. Perfect.

"Yeah well," I joked. "I just love being stuck in libraries."

"Haha," Mira rolled her eyes. "Okay, what do you need?"

I sighed and launched into discussion. "Can you tell me a bit about someone, or uh, something called Sting? That, and if I'm not being imprudent, could you tell me some stuff about your sister? Oh and this girl called Yukino, um is she popular and all?"

"Woah, Lucy honey, slow down," Mirajane put down her pen and the sheet she was scribbling notes on and looked at me. "And what do you want to know about Lisanna?"

Bad idea. Bad idea.

"Well, first about this incident called Sting," I said anyway.

She surprised me by laughing out loud. She had this melodious laugh, up and down and up. I wish my laugh sounded so beautiful. Heh.

"Sting Eucliffe," Mira laughed again. "Is one of the jocks. He's about a year ahead of us, a senior, and he's rivals with our best football player, Natsu Dragneel. Natsu is—"

"Yeah I know Natsu," I cut in impatiently. "So, Sting."

Very bad idea. Very bad indeed.

Mira tied her long, white hair back in a bun as she replied, "I just told you about him. He's very popular, like Natsu.." I didn't miss the frown on her face when she spoke of Natsu. "But weird…how do you know about Lisanna and Sting?"

"Heh? I don't," I said, confused. I just put the names together, I didn't expect _all _ these people to have a connection with each other. "You don't mind right, telling me a bit?"

"Of course I don't," Mira said indifferently. "Well, my sister and Natsu were dating for a while," she said. Okay, not expected. "And it was on for like what, five months or six? Anyway, I know that Sting has the hots for Lisanna, would you believe it, but then someone told Natsu that my sister slept with Sting."

Anger flared up in defense for her sister in Mirajane's eyes. "As if she would," she said furiously.

"Calm," I reminded her, smiling a bit.

"Yeah," she agreed. "So whoever spread this rumor, well rumors travel fast in Jadeites, and Natsu got it first. Like I said, he hates Sting's guts. And when he asked him if he liked Lisanna, he said yes, he did. He didn't technically say he slept with her, but his confession was enough for Natsu to launch into this huge fight. And of course, he broke up with my sister. He remains down most of these days, spacing out a lot, you know?"

So, Yukino had a thing for senior boys, eh?

"So um, do you generally call your sister Lis?" I asked lamely.

Mira shrugged, picking her pen back up. "I don't, but her friends do. Come to think of it, everyone in the school calls her Lis."

"Okay," I made a mental note that Lis honestly _was_ Lisanna Strauss.

"And you asked about someone else?" Mira asked me.

"No, that's all, thanks," I lied easily. Because that someone else was the same someone else who spread the rumors around to get Natsu for herself.

Bingo; Yukino Aguria.

Unfortunately, I didn't get time or scope to do anything about this whole Natsu-breaks-up-with-Lisanna-because-Yukino-was-a-bitch thing, because Jadeites strongly believed that organizing a summer fest and handling Trig homework was perfectly manageable at the same time for us.

In about the second week of school, while we were drawing up vague ideas of how to go about this fest thing, one of the scrap papers in my file accidentally slipped out.

Okay, I doodle a lot. I drew five different warrior costumes in History class and I scribbled a rectangular, checked box with a stem and leaves, coining it the term 'electromagnetic flower' in Physics. So don't blame me if I started sketching a terrible doodle of the boy I had a crush on back in my old town, and when it failed I simply wrote his name in curly font next to it, and that Gray found it at lunch today.

"Whoa," he gave me a sly grin. "Who's Rogue?"

"Um," I said smartly.

Then, knowing from experience that snatching the paper away while Gray kept looking at me would be impossible, I kicked him in the shins and _then_ tore it from his hands. "No one," I finished.

"You sure?" Cana wiggled her eyebrows at me; sitting next to Gray, she got a full view of the paper. "You drew hearts around the 'g' in Rogue."

"Yeah well," I muttered. "I stylize the things I write."

"And you wrote this dude's name why?" Mira was starting to warm to the subject. Cana and Lisanna had pulled me aside to warn me that Mira considered herself to be the one who, if she didn't make everyone fall in love with everyone, would declare the world to have ended.

So, you can understand why I got just a little nervous when she gave me one of those so-that's-a-boy-you-got-the-hots-for-eh? look.

"Because…" I said slowly, formulating a good lie. "He was my friend back at my old school,"—huge lie— "And I doodled him for fun, scribbled his name, and showed it to him for fun. That's all."

Did I mention how good I am at lying when it is necessary? You wouldn't notice the castaway eyes or too-focused eyes, sweaty palms, fidgety movements, over-emphasis, or fake smiles when I lie, oh no. Which sometimes freaks me out that the only thing which can tell I'm lying is those hormones which will happily go blab to a lying machine.

My friends dropped the subject and I sighed in relief. Cana declared to work with me on the stage, if at all we would have the summer music fest thing that happened in Fiore annually, and I agreed, momentarily forgetting about people like Natsu and Yukino and Lisanna and Rogue Cheney and things like I liked one boy who was no unreachable, got asked out by a hottie who was no longer interested though I saved his life, and I was grounded for the weekend by my mom because I left the house unlocked again.

Oh yeah, and the fact that Crab left me. _Again_.

I was furious today, enough so that I kicked a stray basketball and it hit one of our teachers, Gildarts, by accident. I kid you not.

Oh don't worry; I disappeared behind one of the many pillars of Jadeites before he saw me, though I doubt he cared. He looked drunk to me at times.

Gray and Laxus were conveniently going to be staying over—Laxus, because he had match, Gray because he was grounded.

Cana, who I had noticed staring at Laxus at times in a way which you know, said some stuff about the two I still hadn't been disclosed to, had already went to watch him.

Faithful girlfriend she'll be, if she has the patience to sit and actually watch the guy she likes play football.

The Strauss sisters had gone ahead, before I discovered Adam and Zane had raced off, so again, I was left with no car.

Again, I kid you not, Natsu Dragneel just happened to meet me outside the gates. He had been arguing with someone on his phone, which he now snapped shut without a goodbye. He looked at me as I approached, the stray locks of his hair shielding his long lashes.

"Hey, Lucy," he smiled easily.

I stared at him. "Don't you have a match?"

He looked at me amusedly. "My team can do without me for a school match. They need me for the states, of course."

Ego much, big guy? "Mm hm," I said, bored. "Well, ciao."

"Do you even have a ride?"

For some weird reason, Natsu's tone put me off. It kind of irritated me, even with his onyx eyes looking so serious. "I can walk," I said coldly.

Please. I saved this boy from become a Dragneel pancake, and not that I expected rewards or jewels or even basic courtesy for that matter, but if he had the guts to ask me out anyway, why not suck it up and make a girl happy by keeping his promise? Plus I liked him less as I heard about him and his team.

"I'll give you a ride," he offered.

"No," I growled. "Thanks."

"Please?" His voice became soft. And okay, he kind of sounded sexy like that.

I did need a ride. "Fine," I said shortly.

We had crossed the road in one piece and were walking towards his convertible when someone called his name; "Natsu!" in this high pitched, simpering voice. The kind that the heroine uses to call Prince Charming as she is dragged into the depths of the Underworld, or something.

Natsu glanced back at the same time as me, and I saw the last person I wanted to see. You guessed it, Yukino.

She had short, styled bluish-white hair, with light blue highlights. She had these long eyelashes, like Natsu did, and yes, she was very pretty. Her voice, sadly, spoilt her beauty. Or her words did, more like.

"What are you doing here?" she asked me sharply, and I got a flashback from _Mean Girls_, the movie. Like a person can't be around the popular dude without being asked what she's doing there.

"Getting a ride," I said coolly.

"Oh, but Natsu, you said you'd give me a ride, right?" Yukino ignored me. "You know, because I really need to get home fast today, and—"

"Yeah okay," Natsu snapped. He looked at me apologetically. "Sorry Lucy, but I did promise her. Forgot."

Hah, yeah baby. You seem to forget things which concern me a lot.

"There is space in the car," I said logically. And er, we live next to each other, duh.

But Natsu either didn't hear me, because he had already stalked off towards his car, or Yukino chose to ignore my logic, because they were both comfortably seated as I watched.

Then, it hit the apricot glazing coated cerebral cortex of Natsu that I could still join in the fun. "Oh well, Lucy?" he called. "It doesn't really matter; you can still get a seat here. Hop in."

Since I was pissed off already, I turned around and walked away with a "No thanks."

It was clear Yukino wanted Natsu all to herself, and why spoil the girl's fun? Though as the car zoomed off into the auburn sunlit trees, with an unhappy Natsu that even Yukino noticed, she threw me a jealous look.

I figure, I thought with a sly smile as I waited for the bus that the next entry in Yukino's diary will be_; That new girl Lucy looks like a threat to the boy I like._

Damn right, Aguria.

* * *

**I just want to clear something up; I love Yukino in the anime as well as whatever I have read of the manga. I honestly have no problem with her, and I find her really cool and all. Somehow or the other, she just ends up becoming the bad guy in my stories sometimes, so if anyone is miffed about how I have portrayed Yukino here, I'll just like to say that this story aside, I love her too. **

**Okay, that's all :D**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you to every reviewing and supporting :) Really means a lot, and I know these four words generally don't _look_ like they mean a lot, but all your support really does. So thanks, again ;)**

* * *

**Four**

"Puis-je avoir un verre d'eau?"

Adam stared at me. Then he pushed an unopened bottle of water towards me.

"Wait, you understood?" I raised an eyebrow, trying not to sound smug that a language I had never spoken was understood when I did.

"Can I have a glass of water," Adam translated. "Yes, of course I understood, dope."

I ignored the comment about dope and pushed the bottle away as I went to the fridge to get what I really wanted. A can of Coke. You know, the fluid normal people drink to maintain sanity.

It had taken a whole of ten minutes for me and my mother to realize that all three males in this house had an almost incurable habit of drinking straight from the carton.

And while I opened my can of Coke in a sophisticated, feminine (read: normal) way, Zane appeared at the stairs and dragged out a carton of juice. Then he slurped it directly from the packaging as it dribbled over his chin and shirt.

Um. I think I lost my thirst for Coke, watching my geeky young stepbrother's manly chin get sloshed with Tropicana.

Dragging my bag up—I had only just returned from school (and last period had been French lessons)—I walked up the stairs with the can, meaning to get down to my homework and then go out at night. I mean, hey, it's Friday night and the boy who asked me out dumped the idea. That doesn't mean I mope around at home, oh no. Not at all.

Yeah, okay. I sound like a broken record, I get it. Shut up.

My French was mostly confined to _merci _and _tais-toi _(shut up). This amazing word I learnt when I had been made to do a project with this French senior at my last school for the end of term History exhibition (oh and he was a hot 100 degree C, by the way). When I couldn't stop talking, he gave me a huge glare and went all, "_Tais-toi_, Lucy!"

Oh and of course, there was French kissing. Now _that_ I knew quite a lot about, considering I never tried it myself. Though why the French should get all the credit for pushing your tongue in another's mouth really beats me.

Anyway, my French being this confined, I had had a terrible 45 minutes. Luckily, Gray was an expert in the language of love (big surprise) and he offered to help me out which I politely declined. I _would_ like to spend my weekend having a bit of you know, fun, instead of a jock teaching me French and flirting with me (probably in the language itself).

There was this sense of happiness when I reached my room; that was how much I loved it. Plus, it was almost soundproof, to me at least, because I could get rid of Adam and Zane and enjoy a bit of luxury.

Oh and if you're curious about how I returned home on a crowded, hot bus and told my stepbrothers off, well I forgave them. After a bit of er, butt kicking—just a _bit_, stop worrying! Well, Zane mostly, since Adam was way too tall, but both of them went all; "Okay. Got it. Next time. Bye."

The sun killed as it slanted in through the crevice of the sliding glass doors to the balcony overlooking the river, and my good mood went down in the bin as I noticed my bed.

Sprawled on the pillow, was a bunch of pink and white roses, the mini bouquet kind you give people in hospitals. I put my can and bag down.

"The hell?" I muttered, picking them up. There was a card attached to it.

_I know you're_ _mad_, it read. _Let me make it up to you. Meet me downtown?_

Sure baby, I'll meet you downtown. _If I freaking know who you are!_

Then I thought about it. Who would say sorry to me, when I wasn't mad at anyone? Except for…

…Natsu?

Seriously? Did this look like the 1850s to him? How _could_ he send me a bouquet of flowers and a card just to apologize? Why couldn't he stalk someone down at school and get my number, or just tell me in school?

But it was Friday and I didn't have single class with Natsu except for French, which I presumed he ditched. And it was the same Friday that he had asked/dropped the idea of going out as a thank you. The first week had been impossible, but it was the second week that had been decided and this _was _the second Friday.

Don't ask me why, but I was just plain mad. _Madder_, even. I know; I bet loads of girls would be well damn pleased that a boy (Natsu, nonetheless) went to all the trouble of getting a bunch of flowers for them with a card and all even when they were not dying in the hospital.

Me, I found it infuriating. I have this weird thing; when someone I know—_anyone_—does something exceedingly, excruciatingly embarrassing, _I _end up feeling embarrassed, or somewhere along the lines.

It just leaves this weird feeling in me, and the fact that Natsu had sent me flowers to apologize in the 21st century just damn right pissed me off.

I ignored it all, pulled up my chair and sat at the hard glass desk to finish Trig. It took me about a half an hour, before I dredged up the schedule for the fest and went over it. Then I pushed my books back into the bag and leaned back, staring at the flowers I still hadn't touched apart from disentangling the card.

I was so not going to meet him.

* * *

I met him.

Yes, I _know_ I told you I can be stubborn. That doesn't mean I am capable of sticking to _all _my decisions—I mean please, I'm still a teenager with raging hormones, as Allen likes to put it, so give me a break.

Oh and Natsu wasn't waiting by leaning against a shop or anything normal. No, he arrived stylishly in his red convertible just as the first tendrils of twilight touched the town. Me, I stood around like an idiot.

I was back in my usual form—Cut off, rugged denim shorts, light-blue tank-top, paired with my favorite combat boots up to my calf.

I left my hair open, because I liked it best that way. The only problem, I realized as I stepped out, was the merciless heat on the nape of my neck, making me want to chop all my fab hair off with a pair of gardening shears.

Natsu noticed me at about the same time as I did, and he parked neatly near a trashcan and then walked out. The streets and stone pavements paired with its colourful shops of Magnolia were unnaturally clean for Fiore, and even trash cans looked, well, non-trash-can.

He gave me another of his easy smiles, the kind that would have Yukino doubling over and falling straight into the non trash can.

"Hey, Lu—" he started, but I cut him off.

"_Never_," I said severely, pretending to be still mad. "Send me flowers and cards again, got that?"

He looked a bit hurt—his onyx eyes cast down at his crestfallen expression, but I was lucid. "But, did you not like them?" he asked.

Was this boy for real? "I have no opposition towards roses, Natsu," I assured him. "But next time, call me okay? This…this flower thing just makes me mad."

Poor boy. He was still trying to recover from the shock of me, I see. Oh well, it was _his_ idea to meet up with the blonde lunatic, not mine.

"Well," he composed himself. He was wearing a loose, grey T-shirt paired with jeans and sneakers. He looked a bit hot—but just a bit, mind you. "Do you happen to get mad at coffee as well?"

I rolled my eyes, but the fight was over. "Sure," I agreed.

It was a comfortable silence as we walked to Barista. Though the awkwardness of the situation was almost tangible, I ignored.

It was awkward because, I repeat like the broken record I sound like, this is the Friday Natsu and I were supposed to go out in the first place (the Friday of second week). Then he changed plans, after he got over his sudden wave of gratitude when I saved him from playing the harp in heaven, and ditched me. Then he offered to give me a ride to make up, got busted by Yukino, and now to _make up for not making up_ he was going out with me on Friday at any rate. Only this time of the day was the neutral evening friends-for-coffee-with-no-romance-involved type.

Yes, I know. Complicated worse than Pythagoras Theorem.

I sat outside with him, under an orange shade, overlooking the happy street. Natsu had a slight tan to his skin, and when he bent down to pick up the note he had dropped, I caught sight of his muscular chest as his T-shirt sagged, and blushed a bit in embarrassment at myself. I wondered vaguely why he was not like Gray, eager enough to show off his spectacular abs.

As we waited, I jumped straight to the point. I had no time for stuff like 'Nice weather, right?' or perhaps 'Nice shoes, er, boots, Lucy.'

"What did you want to apologize for, exactly?" I asked him, though I knew why. My fingers twirled the straw in my chocolate café frappe with extra whipped cream.

Natsu looked uncomfortable. "Well, I expect it was very rude of me to, you know…"

"Ditch me?" I helped. "When you asked me out, or when I needed a ride?"

He winced at my words. "Sorry," He muttered. His own mocha was untouched, and he had taken his smooth bottom lip between his startlingly white, even teeth in frustration. His dark pink locks still framed his lashes. "Both."

"Which reminds me," I carried on. "Wasn't the fact that you had plans for today the reason why you cancelled in the first place? But you're still here."

I know it was a tad bit mean, but come on, just because he was everything a hot, A-grade, football player should be, doesn't mean he can't take a bit of plain talking.

He dark onyx eyes flashed up to mine, more annoyed than sorry now. "I do," He snapped. "I can afford to spend some time with you. And as for the ride, Lucy, I swear I felt like punching Yukino when she let slip that she lives right next to you."

"I _told_ you there was space in the car," I said, but this time I winked at him and smiled. I was done giving him a verbal butt kick, which sadly does not work on Adam and Zane. Usually with them, it's mostly physical mutuality.

I was thinking of the lines 'punching Yukino' when Natsu said, "If," he said. "We are over this, how about we get to know each other a bit more? Apart from you saving my neck and me being the egoistic football player."

My shock was, I'm sure, clear on my face. Because his next words were, "I saw your expression that day, it's pretty obvious what you think of me."

"Oh?" I raised an eyebrow. "And what exactly do I think of you?"

"That Natsu Dragneel has a huge ego, is stuck up and doesn't really seem very eager to return favours?" He raised his eyebrow, mimicking me.

Only the last part was correct. "Actually," I said coolly, recovering and sipping my frappe. "You're highly off the track. I may not be your normal fell-in-love-with-the-hottie-on-first-day newbie girl, but that's not what I think of you."

But only one word caught his attention and he dropped the serious boy attitude. "Hottie?" He asked with a smirk.

I rolled my eyes and gestured for him to continue with what he had been saying. "About you then," he repeated, the corner of his lips twitching.

"Me," I agreed, putting my frappe down. "I like Big Bang Theory better than How I Met Your Mother, I prefer chocolate over ice cream, to me the French Revolution makes better sense than trigonometry, I—"

"Lucy," Natsu said, suppressing a smile.

I grinned. "Fine," I said. "What do you want to know about me?"

"How old are you?"

"You shouldn't ask females that, don't you know?" I said with mock horror.

"Just answer the question, Luce," Natsu said, amused. Luce? _No one_ called me Luce, no one but my mother. No one was allowed to call me anything but Lucy, and Natsu did.

"I'm 16," I told him, ignoring his nickname for me. "Going on 17." I joked lightly. "My birthday is on the first of July."

"So, why did you move to Magnolia?" Natsu asked, finally touching his mocha. The sunlight dimmed as the first few stars of the evening appeared, half hidden by the mist of the fading clouds.

"My mom remarried," I replied, feeling weird. "And now I'm stuck with two brothers."

He seemed to find this funny. Because he let out a short laugh and I felt like glaring at him for ten minutes straight. "Glad you find this funny," I snapped.

"Okay, sorry," Natsu stopped. "It's just that, brothers can't be that bad."

"Clearly you haven't met Adam and Zane," I muttered, though I secretly agreed with him. "They drink straight from the carton," I informed him.

Natsu stared at me. "Well, I do too," he said, obvious confusion on his face. "What else are you supposed to do?"

Oh gee, I don't know. Ever heard of a glass? There wasn't a single species of the male population who would find this information appalling, I'm sure.

"Hey Natsu?" I said suddenly, changing the subject. "Could you tell me something personal?"

His onyx eyes filled with curiosity. "What is it?" He asked warily.

"Could you tell me something about, well, you and Lisanna Strauss? Um, Lis?"

Bad question, bad idea. Heh. Didn't expect his face to cloud over and become all dark.

"What about her?" He asked.

"Um, well, she's my friend and I was just curious about something…non related to you, of course, but—"

"_Lisanna_ told you about this?" Natsu looked furious. He stood up. No, not in the dramatic about-to-shout-at-me way, but the I-think-let's-call-it-a-day way.

"No!" I rushed. "It's…well I'm curious about Yukino and her. And since you know them both and you and Lis, you know..."

"I'm sorry, but that's way too personal," he said, pushing his chair in a finality for leaving. "For a girl like you to ask."

I would have totally understood if he stalked off without a word or chided me for being so imprudent. But what exactly in Fiore did me mean by a girl like me?!

"A girl like me?" I repeated, standing up as well. "As in?"

"As in," Natsu said, irritated and no longer smiling. "You're the new chick, and you know nothing about me. So don't ask me stuff about who I dated and all."

Sure, the only thing is, _I never said anything about dating_. Geez. "Fine," I said coldly, taking my purse from the table. "I won't ask."

"Good." Natsu looked down at our unfinished coffees.

"In fact," I said, mad. He called me _chick_ and he called me _Luce_. The nerve. "I won't talk at all. Easier, yes?"

Without waiting for a reply, _I _made the dramatic exit by walking off. Except at that moment, I wasn't thinking of drama.

* * *

"Lucy."

I hadn't exactly asked him what underwear he wore, right? Okay fine, I too would have been mad if someone asked me about my dating experience, but he didn't have to say much except for 'Yukino came and told me my girlfriend slept with my enemy and I dumped her like a hot potato.'

"Lucy."

It's not as if I wasn't damn sure it was Yukino, I mean I had proof—you know, the diary—and something about what she'd written about herself not moping around after 'Sting and her'…

"Lucy!"

…Made me think she didn't just do it because she liked Natsu instead of Sting. She did it to get back at Sting, after they stopped dating, to get Natsu, and Lisanna was just caught up it in all. She must have been the first to have started the rumour around anyway, right?

"_Lucy Heartfilia_!"

"What?!" I snapped. Then, when my stepbrothers, Allen and Mom stared at me from around the dining table laden with chicken enchiladas today, I shut up with horror.

Adam, sitting right next to me, grabbed the short hairs at the back of my neck so that it hurt when twisted, and said, "Mom has been asking you for the sauce for ten minutes, dink."

Two things made me see red at the same time. First; Adam had the nerve to call Layla _Mom_? She was not his _mom_.

The second; Him grabbing me like that.

I acted on instinct, by wrenching my head away from his hands and punching him hard in the jaw. He almost fell off his chair, knocked off balance. His tousled hair became even messier as he straightened himself. Then he narrowed his eyes and slapped me across the face.

That did it. My cheek stung and I raised my hand to punch him some more, when Allen shouted; "Both of you, stop!"

"What's _wrong_ with you?" Adam shouted at me angrily, as we both breathed heavily.

"Me?!" My voice went up an octave. "What's wrong with _you_? I _heard_ my Mom, alright? You didn't have to grab me by the neck."

"Lucy," Mom, who apparently no longer had the appetite for the sauce I never passed, looked appalled. "Calm down."

But I wasn't listening to her. I glared at Adam, the humiliation of getting slapped by _him_ out of all the people in this world making my eyes smart as I got up, pushing my chair back.

"And she's _my _mother," I said bitterly, "Not yours. So stop. Calling her. _Mom_."

I emphasized this with gritted teeth, and then I left the table, stomping up the stairs and rubbing off my sudden, angry tears.

I heard Zane calling me back to the table in a frustrated voice—mealtimes at the Day's were generally a family bonding time—but I ignored him too. Then, when I reached my room, I slammed the door shut behind me as I entered.

Then I dug out the nearest CD I had unpacked from my bag, and plugged it into my music system, grabbing the headphones and turning up the volume, high enough to barely burst my eardrums.

Stupid Magnolia.

* * *

When the sunlight hit me squarely in the face, I remembered it was the weekend and there was no escape from my stepbrothers with no school. The gothic rock CD was still replaying over and over in the headphones, and I realized I must have fallen asleep listening to it.

Once I took my headphones off, I was hit with a tremendous headache. No wonder—I spent eight hours with rock blasting my eardrums without any actual food in me.

After a few minutes of trying to get up and move around, and feeling the little enchiladas and frappe I had in my system coming up, I gave up. I was definitely sick.

Maybe it was because I didn't even bother to close the windows; remember that bit bad chilly wind? Yeah, that one came and gifted me with a headache—or whatever the colds gift you.

I crawled under my bed-sheets and lay there, until there was a soft knock on the door. I asked whoever it was to go away, until Zane poked his head in and said, "Um, Lucy? There's someone who wants to talk to you?"

"Who is it?" I groaned. I was over-tired, I couldn't get rid of the incessant images and music flashing through my brain, which made sleep impossible.

"Some…some boy," Zane said, embarrassed. "Should I tell him you're sick?"

Well. I am. "No, ask him to come up," I told him.

I had forgotten all about Gray telling me he would come over in the weekend. Cana, Gray and I were supposed to be working together for the fest—and yes, the Fiore annual summer music festival would be in Magnolia this time—but since Cana was out of town, Gray and I were supposed to work ahead.

But the boy who came in next was not Gray. It was Natsu Dragneel.

He didn't shut the door behind him; In fact, he left it open wide enough, like a gentleman.

Cue for snort. As I didn't know better.

"Lucy?" He asked, taking in my form on the bed. I realized I was in a huge T-shirt with the same boxer shorts I wore to bed, and with no bra on. Perfect.

"Yeah no, it's Kate Winslet," I said sarcastically. Then I sneakily pulled the cover over my chest and to my collarbone, trying to ignore the heat. "What do you want?"

"I came to apologize," he said. Neither of us added the _again_. Apologize again. "But, if you're sick, and all…" He trailed off, uneasily. "I just didn't want to discuss Lisanna."

"No, it's okay," I said. "I should say sorry anyway. And at least that's one person down."

He looked confused. He walked forward, looking ridiculously good in denim jeans and a checked blue-white flannel shirt, and sat down at the edge of my bed. I was positively sweating by now, stuck under the sheets in this heat.

"What do you mean?" He asked softly. I'm sure Mom, who had no idea I was sick, or even Allen for that matter, would have freaked out seeing an unknown boy sitting on the edge of my bed while I was lying there like helpless, blanketed idiot.

"I really gave it to my stepbrother last night," I shouldn't have felt lighter admitting this to _Natsu,_ who I didn't want to speak to again, but I did. "And said some things."

"Well, what happened?"

I looked up at Natsu. "You know," I teased lightly, even though I still had not forgiven him for calling me chick and all. "I don't think a boy like you should be asking such questions." Especially when Yukino is out looking for you to spend a romantic weekend getaway, I didn't add.

As Natsu grinned, mimicking me again, for some reason I forgot all about my stepbrother.


	5. Chapter 5

**Thanks to all the reviewers, favorites and followers :)**

* * *

**Five **

On Monday morning, I came down with my bag to see Mom, Adam and Zane standing at the foot of the stairs awkwardly.

The whole of Sunday I had managed to avoid the three, claiming I was still sick—when I really felt fit enough to kick some butt by the time Natsu had left on Saturday—and Allen generously brought up a tray for me. Today, however, he had gone to work early, and I was at iceberg point.

And me being the fab person I was, I had already got a ride. With Fullbuster, sadly, but he was the only one who lived closest to me with the exception of the girl-next-door Yukino, and the only one who would be eager enough to give me a ride as soon as I called him.

Let me tell you, it was _hard_.

The conversation had went a lot like:

"Gray?"

"What?" he had grumbled. It had been Sunday night, so I didn't expect him to be this gloomy, but my next words cheered him up.

"It's Lucy," I said, and his tone immediately perked up.

"Oh, hi Lucy!"

I rolled my eyes. "Don't 'oh hi' me, idiot. Can you pick me up from Crane Avenue tomorrow? I need a ride."

"To?"

"To _school_!" Trust me to choose a reliable person.

After I had hung up, I found myself wishing I could drive or had a car. Or a bike, I always liked bikes; they went good with my leather jackets. The only problem was Mom would allow me a bike only when hell froze over.

So today morning, as I stalked past the three of them, I heard Mom telling the two boys, "I think you should give her some time."

"Yeah. Right." Zane muttered as he followed me out of the door with Adam bringing up the rear.

Crab was dawdling outside; Zane got into the car with his bag almost bursting at the seams with the number of geology books he carried for 'light reading'. Adam hesitated but I ignored him and walked past the house.

* * *

I'll save myself _and_ you the torture of describing my second ride with Gray.

Zeref gave Gray detention for punctuality being an issue with him, and I could help but think when he said those words, how my fist would become an issue with Zeref when it came in contact with his face.

To me, he went all, "May I remind you, Miss Heartfilia, such disgraceful clothes are not permitted at Jadeites."

And _excuse me_, but I still don't know what exactly is _disgraceful_ about my tank top and short denim skirt and my boots. I looked too good?

At any rate, by the time break rolled around, I swear every limb in my body was exhausted just from enduring 45 minutes of bogus which would be needed in my life outside the walls of Jadeites no more than Taylor Swift needed a proper boyfriend. 'Cause hey, if you ask me, the girl's fine on her own.

I was making to the sprawling green campus grounds where Mira and the rest of us usually hung out, past the red-brick walls of the school building, when someone called my name.

"Luce!"

I was on the verge of turning around and making sure whoever called me _Luce _paid with pizzas, when Natsu's hand came in contact with my back. "Hey."

Maybe it had been the slight fever I had come down with on Saturday which made me all happy go lucky pals with Natsu again, but when my head felt right again I thought about it. And I still can't say that I forgave Natsu completely.

So when he clapped me on the back and put an arm around my shoulders, I gritted my teeth and shoved off.

He looked hurt. "What's wrong?"

Clearly, he was one of those people at Jadeites who still were not aware of the fact that I didn't _do_ physical bonding—which includes egoistic football players' arms around my shoulders—unless it was to kick butt or hug Mira.

"Let's keep it at platonic mutuality," I told Natsu.

He looked slightly miffed. "Technically, I didn't really—"

"Forget it," I replied, proceeding to walk to the grounds and _get some food_. He followed after, jogging backwards lightly.

"Well, I just wanted to say hi."

"And," I said, a bit amusedly. "You said it."

Perhaps this was the cue moment where I gushed all over Natsu Dragneel talking to me, but seriously, if he didn't know it by now, the only way to win my heart at this precise moment was food.

Er. Not that he was trying to. Win my heart, I mean.

"So did you clear it up with your brother?" He asked me conversationally. He had a white T-shirt on, paired with his usual jeans. Only today they were black denim.

"Stepbrother," I corrected. "And no. But I'm sure you're not here to give me a detailed account of how sad and depressed Adam is because I didn't say sorry to him for shouting at him when he slapped me, so what's up?"

I was still walking, and by now I had reached the cafeteria. As I pushed through the glass doors, about ten girls looked this way, but not at me, at Natsu. I joined the line and Natsu kept standing next to me, which annoyed me now.

"He slapped you?" He asked, his tone disgusted, ignoring my question.

"I did punch him before that," I admitted.

"Why did you?"

"Um," I felt silly now that I was telling all this to Natsu. "He grabbed me by the neck…" I honestly should have thought about this before I punched him. The reason why didn't seem so reasonable anymore.

"How is it that you're always in a physical fight with him?" Natsu asked me, his voice returning to normal instead of the disgusted tone it had been.

I was irritated again, moving forward as the line lessened and I brandished my purse, searching for an edible item to buy. "I'm not," I said shortly.

"But you—"

I purchased a Subway sandwich and a can of Diet Coke and turned on Natsu as I walked out of the line. "You want to know how I punched him?" I asked him, my eyebrows raised. "I could totally give you a demo."

He looked taken aback as he mumbled, "No…I don't?"

"Well." I slit the packet covering the sandwich, heading towards my friends outside. "Then shut up."

And then I ignored the glares of twenty jealous cheerleaders as I walked out on Natsu. Again.

* * *

"Are you nuts?" Cana enquired, when I told her what happened. "Are you freaking insane? Ballistics?"

I shrugged, enjoying the sun as I lay flat on my back and drowned my Diet Coke. "He was getting on my nerves."

"And you did right," Gray assured me solemnly. "You are free to come to me for help if he does it again."

I suppressed my grin. "Thanks, Gray."

"Bet Rogue will feel bad when he sees Natsu after you," Mirajane winked at me. She had left her white blonde hair open, and I could sense about five different guys staring at her behind us.

Oh, my reaction? Yeah, I almost died because I spluttered into the Coke and it went up my nostrils. Two minutes later I was sitting up and Gray was thumping me on the back.

"Didn't your mom _tell_ you don't drink stuff when you're lying down?" Cana said innocently, and I glared back at her.

"How—did—Rogue—come—into this?" I asked, punctuating my sentence with mini coughs and trying to get the Coke in its position in a feminine way. "And what do you mean by Natsu _after me_?"

"Oh, come on, Lucy," Cana's smirk was erased of her tanned face as genuine shock replaced it. "You seriously haven't noticed?"

"Noticed what?"

"That Natsu likes you!" Mira shoved sense into me, by literally poking my head back.

"Of course he doesn't," I rolled my eyes. "He's just curious as to why I'm not one of those girls who prefer going out with him rather than offering to punch him."

"You're kind of really cool for a new girl, Lucy," Cana laughed. "And whatever you say about Natsu then."

"Oh and Rogue," Mira started slyly, speaking diabolically slowly to raise the tension. I had been so wrong to think she would drop the subject of Rogue Cheney. "Will be here soon, I hope. So he'll totally get to see you and Natsu's er, platonic relationship."

"Hey, hey, hey!" I made a Time-Out T with my fingers. "Hold up. First off, Rogue is _not _in Magnolia. And what the hell is with the word relationship?"

"Okay, give her a break," Gray said. "I don't think Natsu likes her that way."

"_Thank_ you," I said.

"What I mean is," Mira ignored my supporter. "The summer fest is in two weeks. And this time, it being in Magnolia and Jadeites organizing it, don't you think the whole of Fiore is going to visit for the music festival?"

I remembered going to the annual Fiore summer music festival I had visited with my Dad in Clover once, and after that I never attended one without him. The music festival was a big thing; and I was lucky at least, to be part of it this time.

"So you mean, my old school..." I trailed off.

"If you ask your friends, yeah," Mira smiled. "Obviously the whole town won't come…"

I could so call Levy. Just the thought of Levy being here in this foreign town made it seem normal.

"And whether you do it or not," Cana gave me a devilish smirk, her grey eyes gleaming. Literally. "We'll certainly invite Rogue."

Gray, who was the only guy here today, threw up his hands in frustration and exclaimed; "Girls!"

I groaned.

* * *

It's okay. I still have two weeks to put this off, and plus, I don't think it's possible for me to finish all this homework without getting carpel tunnel syndrome, so there goes worrying about _boys_.

I had never really tried out the clap-on clap-off light Allen had generously installed above my desk. Sadly, there was either a technical problem with it, or it just preferred Allen's hands to mine, because it didn't switch on today. I still couldn't get used to this amount of luxury.

Allen had definitely become my favourite of the Day clan, which neither of had any problems with. It wasn't until I caught him sneaking out to the deck with chips and barbecue sauce that I realized he was my type, and we spent that day wolfing the chips and sauce down with a vindictive pleasure of the fact that the others were missing out on it.

I was halfway through copying the diagram of a magnet, when someone rapped on the door. It was definitely Allen—he _personally_ called us to dinner, anxious for us not to miss out on a single fab dish he prepared with Mom.

"Come in!" I called, already getting up to go down, when my _least favourite _of the Day clan walked in.

"_What,_" I said emphatically. "Adam?"

If he was pissed off within a second of entering my room, he didn't show it. "I wanted to apologize to you." He said instead, his voice steady.

I sat back on my bed, crossing my arms and cocking an eyebrow at my older stepbrother. "Yeah?"

"Yeah." He came and sat next to me, his arms between his legs. "I'm sorry. For hitting you, I mean."

"Apology accepted," I said coolly.

He frowned at me, his slightly chiseled face inclined towards me. "Don't you have anything to say to _me_?"

I smirked at him slyly. "Not that I can think of."

"Lucy…"

"Fine," I threw my arms around his neck. "I'm sorry I punched you, ass."

"Apology accepted," he laughed, his words muffled as he hugged me back. I pulled back, releasing him. Then he looked at me as if he wanted to say something else, and did.

"Did you mean what you said, last night?" He asked me, his tone a shade darker.

"Say what?" I asked confusedly.

"When you said she wasn't my Mom?" Hurt coloured his voice and I felt bad for every saying those words to Adam. He had probably been hurt worse than the slap I probably deserved.

"No," I lied. "It's just that…I need some time to get used to this, you see, living with you all. I can be very stubborn. I'm sorry, seriously." I didn't add the part about _sharing_ certain things, including Mom. Which was hard.

He smiled easily, the hurt and tension melting into his dark eyes. "Okay," he said cheerfully. "Time, sure."

"Oh and Adam?" I said after a minute.

"Yes?"

"When is your birthday?"

"17th of May," he frowned again. "Why?"

"Because," I replied, getting off the bed and dancing out of the way in case he decided to muss my hair or something. "I need to gift you a deo as soon as possible."

* * *

It was around ten, right after dinner—lasagna with bread-buns dipped in melted butter—that Cana showed up at my doorstep. It was dark, without the porch light on as I opened the door, claiming it was totally Zane's turn to do the dishes, so at first I stood there blankly like an idiot.

Then Adam appeared beside me, flicking the porch light on and Cana's almost-catatonic-with-hyper-attacks face appeared before me.

"If you think you're going to get Rogue's number now," I told her. "You're so wrong."

She rolled her eyes. "Of course not. I need some help."

I glanced at Adam who, apparently when he made sure it wasn't some psycho stalker at the door, returned to his texting and disappeared into the kitchen.

"What do you need?" I asked her. "Come in."

She flashed me an evil grin. Sure, freak the new girl out, why don't you? "Actually," she said. "Let's talk outside."

I sighed, shutting the door lightly behind me. The framework shuddered delicately. "Yes?"

"So," Cana spoke in an excited rush. "There is this totally fab party Natsu is throwing tonight at his house, and I really want to go, and I even asked my sister to cover for me, so it's all cool with me." She gave me an appraising look. "And you totally have to come, Lucy, please!"

Wait. Back up a second here. "What about Mira?" I asked. "Or Erza?"

"Mira doesn't want to come, and Erza _never_ sneaks out. You told me you're a pro at it, and plus…well Laxus is going to be there…and I kind of need a wingman…you know, it looks stupid if I show I up alone."

She flashed me a hopeful half-smile. Obviously, the real reason was the fact that she wanted someone to join in the fun, 'cause I was pretty sure most of Natsu's friends were unknown to Cana, even though she was at Jadeites longer.

"Well…" I said. "I really don't want to piss any of the Days off now that I made up with Adam and—"

Cana collided with me and threw her arms around my neck. "Come on girl, it'll be fun!"

Needless to say, an hour later, I was in my leather jacket, white shorts, laced boots and a dark magenta top, sitting up on my bed.

Everyone was asleep, I hoped. But the house was dark except for a solitary deck light in case Blonde decided to have a midnight detour.

I was, obviously, still reluctant. But a spark of that sneaking-out-with-friends-at-night excitement was creeping up back in, the first rush I felt in Magnolia. It was almost like I would meet Levy and sneak into school again.

So you can understand why I wasn't very thrilled when I peeked out of the door and saw Adam's room was wide open. And oh yeah, he was awake, at his laptop, propped up on his bed in my direction. Which, if you still don't get it, meant I couldn't _crawl_ pass that dink without being caught.

I went back to my room, slumping against my bed as I picked up the phone installed in my room as my personal line to call and cancel with Cana, when I noticed the silent balcony.

The next moment I had pushed past the sliding glass doors and was looking down the balcony—and gee, it wasn't that high, really.

_No, _I was not going to jump off. Don't be stupid.

But I could totally skivvy down the side of the house, holding onto the first roof, because the roof was large enough for me to duel on it and not trip and go all Humpty Dumpty style into heaven.

So I simply hitched one leg over the railing, then the other, and then let go with only my hands holding onto the bars. And trust me, I was all cool, like I climbed down houses every day. But seriously, I didn't exactly have a fear of heights, and I had enough practice from jumping down on my old town's street bully if necessary.

It didn't me long to grip the bar with one hand now and look down at the first roof. _Damn¸_ I like two storey-two-roofs houses; because I let go at that moment and my feet collided with the roof in a second. Sadly, I landed on my butt, and it hurt. Ouch.

And the distance from the first roof to the garden was child's play—er, or not. I hope no kid ever takes this kind of inspiration from me and goes about jumping off balconies to get to boys' pool parties in the dead of the night.

Cana had told me she'd be back around eleven, and it must be around five minutes to by now. So I landed hard on the ground, but I didn't sprain myself, dirty my kick-ass clothes _or_ mess my hair up. Hah!

I know. I'm a professional.

When I _did_ freak out, and not from jumping down houses, was when Cana showed up with a bike. Which she obviously could drive like a pro.

"What the hell is that?" I stage-whispered to her. "Are you insane?"

"It was in your garage, and I know how to drive, chill. My cousin taught me," she winked at me. She had changed into a deep pink noodle-strap top with neon green shorts and block heels and suddenly I didn't feel my clothes were sexy anymore.

Wait. I totally got distracted. "My garage?" I enquired, climbing on to the back seat and taking the helmet from her hands as she hurried me on impatiently.

"Yeah. It's your stepbrother's," she informed me happily. "Probably the older one, because your dad won't let the younger one drive, do you?"

I wasn't listening to her, because I was all frozen as she revved and made a dramatic turn on the opposite street, heading straight for wherever Natsu lived.

"You mean this bike's Adam's?!" I shrieked. I had never considered him having a bike, or any other vehicle except for Crab. But old, weary Crab only took us to school and back, _of course_ he had a bike.

"Yep!" Cana yelled back over the wind.

I gave up and muttered, "Cana, you're so dead."

* * *

**My summer hols are on at last, and I have so much time to write now, so perhaps updates will be faster! **

**#Summer=sodas, shorts, sun **


	6. Chapter 6

**So remember how I told you guys updates would be faster because my holidays were on? It turns out updates will be slower, because holidays just make me lazier, so :D I tried making up with a long chapter though. *looks hopeful*.**

** Thanks, to the all the reviews, favorites, follows :)**

* * *

**Six**

"_That_," I said with finality. "Is definitely not for me."

Cana cocked an eyebrow. "You're sixteen."

"That's exactly the point," I mimicked her expression. "I'm _sixteen_."

She made an exasperated sound and pushed back the cocktail she had tried to lure me into having. Sure, why don't I just get illegally drunk with a few more of those bourbons on the counter, trip and fall into the pool, and possibly die in Natsu's personal headquarters so that he had ample time to go all; "I _told_ you Lucy, love me like all those other chicks or just die without me."?

The grounds were _huge_—I'm pretty sure it would take us ten minutes to simply go from the gates to the front door of the house in a _car_. The light blue pool was lit up, obviously, and don't even ask me _how_ Natsu didn't just sneak in beers like normal teenagers, but actually got a full bar stock; counter, tender and all.

Some of the girls had simply stripped down into bra tops and short shorts. None of them were actually swimming; but I had no idea how these pool parties went anyway. Considering the only one I had been to ended pretty quickly when a college guy got high and almost drowned, and since I came late anyway, I got about five minutes of the experience.

One of the girls—a deep tanned one with a yellow bra top and black shorts—came up to me after a few minutes of me standing around awkwardly.

"You're the new chick at school, right?" she asked me, her right hand clutching a cocktail.

I wish people stopped using that word. "Lucy," I said instead. "Lucy Day." Yeah, I almost said Heartfilia, but I have been giving mixed surnames to people anyway, so I figured what the hell.

"Whatever," she grinned, but not in the friendly kind, the curious eager-for-gossip-just-for-the-heck-of-it kind. "So, Natsu invited you, huh?"

"Didn't he invite pretty much the whole school?" I frowned. Don't tell me I needed some sealed approval stamp of Natsu on my chest to prove I was invited. I was worried enough about Adam waking up in the middle of the night to go confess his everlasting love to Yukino and find his bike stolen and his stepsister vanished.

"Only the pops," she winked at me; her eyes were lined with neon green eyeliner. Geez. And I thought I had good fashion sense.

"Pops?" I said helplessly.

"The popular kids," she said impatiently.

"Oh well…he invited my friend Cana, I guess…" I pointed to Cana behind us, who was busy trying to get Laxus's attention while two buff, hot guys dogged her from behind, vying for her attention instead.

Why didn't boys swarm _me_ like that?!

"Isn't he just so hot?" The girl leaned over the makeshift counter I was leaning against and stared dreamily at the pool edge illuminated by the green lights. I followed her gaze to see Natsu lounged beside it in black shorts; _totally_ showing off his fab abs now.

"OMG, he just _looked _at me!" She squealed suddenly, knocking over her own drink in enthusiasm.

I beg to differ.

Natsu definitely looked this way, but between just the two of us standing her, not at the girl beside me. When his eyes flashed up and saw me, he became all mega confused then mega determined. So when he said something to the girl lying beside him in an indecent position and then got up to head this way, my new friend dug her manicured nails into my arm.

"He's _coming_ this way!" Captain Obvious whispered to me. "OMG, he's _totally_ coming to us."

"Yeah," I detached my arm from her, coughing lightly. I didn't exactly want to be caught trespassing on rich guy's pool parties because her friend wanted to stalk her crush and she had offered to punch him not a few hours ago. "I'll just leave you guys to talk."

But Natsu grabbed my arm as I was about to make a run for it. I mentally called him twenty different not-so-decent names in pretty much every language I knew, including my below average French mind you.

"I didn't expect you to be here, Lucy," he said politely with an underlying tone of amusement shared at some inside joke.

"Nor did I, trust me," I muttered under my breath.

Natsu obviously didn't know how to be tactful, because the girl beside me grew annoyed and stepped into his view to get his attention. "Hey, Natsu," she grinned, showing off her white teeth. "Cool party."

"Thanks, Nova," Natsu told her wryly.

Then he pulled me aside, much to my irritation. "That was rude of you," I told him angrily.

"What do you mean? I thanked her." He looked genuinely confused.

"And then just ignored her and pulled me off. She must be hurt."

"Okay, I'll deal with her. So you must be here to apologize, right?"

Woah, woah, woah. Heh. Me? Apologize to Natsu? Yeah right. And pigs fly.

"I'm here," I replied through gritted teeth. "Because Cana dragged me here."

He pouted slightly, his smooth, incandescent bottom lip jutting out slightly. It was face, I'm sure, most of the girls here would kill to see all the time. Me, I was still reeling at how I was supposed to apologize to him.

"So under no circumstances did you come here because of me?" He asked me, teasing every so slightly, hoping for satisfactory response.

"None," I smiled sweetly. His teasing dropped and he narrowed his eyes as I continued, "Now go flirt with Nova or something. The poor thing's got the hots for you and you almost dissed her."

"Oh, she's not the only one," he winked at me before disappearing behind the counter again.

I seethed on the spot. "Well–well you're right about the huge ego!" I called after him, but he had disappeared.

I was about to simply go to the pool side and convince Cana to get me out of this party I _so_ wasn't enjoying—which sucks big time, let me tell you, because I totally love parties—when I was interrupted by a voice.

"You fight with him?" A boy asked me, and I turned around to face a complete hottie. I kid you not. He was shirtless and buff with slightly tanned skin. He had wavy blonde hair, the kind which generally didn't go well with those green eyes, but he pulled it off.

Oh and his accent was French.

"Yes," I told him determinedly. "He's annoying."

"I have heard." He flashed me a smile. Oh goodie; hot, French, _and_ has good judgment. All a girl wants.

"I'm Lucy Heartfilia," I said, extending a hand.

He shook it, still smiling. "I know. Everybody in school knows zee new student, no?"

"I guess," I shrugged. Why was he discussing school? Let's fast forward to the point in my life where we know each other by heart and have run away from our homes when Allen refuses to let me marry him and we end up making out in the car before getting married in jeans and Tees.

"My name's Daniel," he told me, snapping me out of my amazing reverie. "I saw you fight with him," only he said _heem_ instead of _him_ and sounded so hot. "And thought you would like to enjoy at a party instead."

See? That's how thoughtful people should be. I love French boys.

I was all ready to have an amazing night, preferably sipping a mocktail and talking with him, when we were interrupted by a loud shout.

At first I went all, "Uh oh. I _knew_ someone would drown."

And Daniel shot me a quizzical look. "Pourquoi?" he asked politely, but I didn't answer him _why_ when I saw who was yelling.

Cana Alberona's normally calm, unruffled who-gives-a-damn face was all flushed as she yelled at Laxus, out of all people.

"And just learn to be _tactful_, at least!" she continued furiously. "Perhaps you can stop hurting people that way!"

And she walked away from him so hard, that one of her sandals came off, and she said a pretty colourful word in frustration. Then she noticed me, gaping at her, while Daniel—the poor hottie thing—tried ask me what was wrong and walked right up to me. I was shocked to see saltwater staining her cheeks.

"We're leaving," she told me shortly. "You were right. Bad idea."

"But—I was talking to Dan—" However, Cana was already pulling me away from my true love by the arm with unusual force.

The only thing which kept me from getting off more pissed off at Cana was Daniel calling "Bye, Lucy! We talk later, yes?" to which I couldn't reply since the two of us had already disappeared past the gate.

I wrenched my arm away from her, about to yell at her too, when I noticed the anger drain away from her face and sudden tears replace it as she sobbed out. "He's so_ mean_. He just doesn't care."

Um. I am not very good with boy advice, because generally Levy gets all the boys and I hang around and pat her on the back as she goes out on dates. She deals with her breakups faster than I have ever seen anyone do—she grabs some ice-cream, and watched the re-runs of Big Bang Theory all night long with me, and by dawn she's all; "Okay, so which guy do I snog next?"

Not that she doesn't care, but she just _is_ that 'snap and done' person when it comes to hard stuff. That's why I love her to Olympus and back.

So you can imagine why I was a bit awkward as I put an arm around Cana's shoulders and said, "What did he say?"

She shot me a look which clearly meant I asked the wrong question, so I hurried on to, "Well, he does care. He just is too full of himself. If he can't do something about it, let me kick his ass and he'll get it alright, okay? So let's get home now."

"You'd really kick his ass for me?" Cana asked me, her voice a shaky laugh and a half-sob.

I shrugged. "Like duh I would."

"You're _so_ amazing," She declared, throwing her arms around me. I let out a small laugh, but then urged to hurry up and get back.

Ten minutes later, we were racing down the silent Magnolia streets, almost midnight. Then the problem of driving came up, because I couldn't ride a bike, and Cana's house came before mine.

"I don't think you can drop me off and then go back and _then_ get the bike back again, do you?" I asked her hopefully. Hey, don't blame me! I was pretty tired.

Another dirty glare. "I have a crazier idea."

"I can't push it back home," I told her quickly to which she rolled her eyes.

"Of course not. I just stay the night with you and you give me a ride straight to school tomorrow."

"And your parents will be okay when they see you're empty bed, I'm sure," I said sarcastically.

She gave me a don't-you-listen-to-anything-I-say? look. "I told you my sister's covering for me. She thinks I'm having a sleepover at your place."

Wow. And on a school night, no less.

By the time we had reached the quiet house, Cana stopped a bit away, to avoid the sound of halting to a stop. Then we took it back to the garage, and I was pretty relaxed though sleepy now, because there was no way Adam was ever going to find out about this.

Um. Spoke too fast.

I hadn't even got to the front door with Cana tailing me when Adam opened it himself. I was completely frozen on the doorstep.

He gave me an unfathomable look. "You left your door open."

Damn! I must be losing my touch at sneaking out. But how was I supposed to know that Adam would get out of his room and notice my empty room anyway?

"Oops?" I tried.

He pulled me and Cana inside, so mad, that he wasn't even aware of the fact that there was an extra girl in the house in which we were standing around at midnight for negotiable purposes.

"I'm guessing you went to that party," he said slowly, which was a bad sign with my stepbrother. "And do you and your friend have _any_ idea how stupid it was? What if Mom and Dad found out?"

I shot Cana a look which clearly meant I-_told_-you-I-didn't-want-to-make-Adam-mad-and-now-look-what-you-did. And again with the _mom_.

"Sorry," I muttered, feeling incredibly ashamed.

"And how did you guys get a ride anyway? Did you go with that Gray boy?" His tone became sharp. What was he doing up so late anyway? He didn't look sleepy in the slightest, and even if, he wouldn't have been the prompt door-chauffeur. But it was cute, really, him getting all worked up about me hitching a ride with a boy at night; so older bro.

"No…" Cana spoke up instead. Adam didn't even look at her. "Then?" he probed.

"Um…we kind of...took your bike," I mumbled.

The reaction would have brought Blondie running from Yukino's armpit next door, so it was surprising the Days and Mom didn't wake up.

"You _took_ my _bike_?!" Adam looked ready to declare the apocalypse. "Are you insane?!"

My own temper overpowered my sleepiness and I glared at him, about to give him the my-friend-is-insane-and-I-just-got-dragged-along excuse, when he suddenly backed off a few inches.

"Just don't punch me again, now!" he snapped, but I detected doubt in his trying-to-be-macho voice.

I almost laughed out loud. My older stepbrother is afraid of me punching him.

Leverage, advantage: Here I come.

But I'm not mean, contrary to whatever crap you think when it comes to my stepbrothers. "I won't," I suppressed a smirk. "And it's totally Cana's fault, but I'm still sorry. Won't take your bike without asking next time."

"Next time?!" he echoed, but he was mollified with my apology.

Cana shot me a glare when I bailed her out, but it _was_ her fault. Then she looked at Adam with that he's-pretty-hot-Lucy-why-do-you-want-to-punch-him-every-five-minutes look and I groaned internally.

Instead, she said, "So, Adam. Why are you up so late?"

Sleep was crawling back and I was exhausted; plus we had school tomorrow. "He probably sleepwalks, why do you care," I muttered to her, my fingers wrapping around her forearm and proceeding to tug her up the stairs.

She went ahead as I stopped to put the fallen keys back in its hold, and so I caught the slight embarrassed blush on Adam's face after Cana asked her question.

_Please don't tell me he's part of some Chinese undercover gang_, I prayed, as I sighed and asked him quietly, "Adam? What _were_ you doing? And don't tell you came down for water, because is it a coincidence you just happened to be at the door when we came in?"

"I saw you guys from the window," he said evasively, frowning. "You should go to sleep now. Dad will kill us if he wakes up right now."

Again, did I mention I'm stubborn? Like a lot. "Then," I said, crossing my arms in defiance. "You wouldn't have freaked out at the bike thing, if you already saw us. You were _so_ going out of the house, weren't you? Just waiting around for guilty me to come back or somewhere else?"

He rolled his eyes, took three lithe steps forward and jabbed a finger between my eyes, tossing my head back playfully. Well, playfully for a bedraggled girl and her suspicious stepbrother at midnight.

"I was going to look for you," he told me.

He so wasn't. He had to be embarrassed and blush for that? "Nope, you were definitely—"

Adam grabbed my hand and pulled me up the stairs. "Shut up Little Holmes, and go to sleep."

Then he reached the first landing and pushed me into my room.

Inside, Cana was getting washed up, already home. She had stripped off her top, and now she fell back with a pleased sigh on the comfy bed, half naked. "Night, girl with the hot brother," she mumbled into the pillows.

I rolled my eyes and didn't bother to even make it to the bathroom and wash up as I kicked my shoes off and flopped down beside her.

"You better get under the sheets to cover up, or Allen will freak out in the morning," I advised her sleepily.

"Freak out how? Think we're sleeping together and you turned gay? Nah," she grinned at me from under the pillow she had dredged up to cover half her face. "It's too hot for covers."

It was few minutes until we both realized what we just implied, and burst out laughing, rolling away from each other to two different sides of the bed.

* * *

"I am warning you, Miss Heartfilia. I am aware that it has repeatedly been informed to you, that such clothes are not allowed within Jadeites. Just because you're a new—"

Blah, blah, blah. I nodded my head away to the Biology teacher lecturing me on how my V-neck T-shirt and high up the thigh shorts were not allowed.

The bell saved me, literally, as it rang for the next class. I was halfway through crossing the building to get to Physical Ed., when I noticed a huge group by the edge of the grounds.

Gray caught my attention, really. His mass of spiky black hair and jock-jacket as I called it back in my old school stood out in the centre of the group.

Yeah well. I didn't like Physical Ed. anyway.

By the time I reached him—and it was hard, may I add, pushing through the crowd—I noticed the open laptop on his lap. In fact, when he noticed me as he looked up from the video everyone was gaping at, he laughed out loud.

"What's so funny?" I demanded.

"Oh geez, you still haven't watched it," Gray literally had tears in the corner of his eyes from his burst of laughter at seeing me.

"Gimme that," I muttered, pushing him to one side of the stone ledge he was sitting on and getting down beside him. The laptop was wrenched from his hands to my lap.

The video gone viral on our blog looked a lot like Natsu's party for some reason. I un-paused it.

And yay, my dream of being famous all over internet came true. Only, I wasn't famous for my excellent, flawless plans for world domination and doughnut negotiation, but for being hauled across the place with a hyper Cana while a French guy shouted stuff at me.

Oh haha.

The video actually started with Cana screaming at Laxus, so I guess this was at her expense more than mine, and then switched to me flirting it up with Daniel. Then the brunnete girl stomped up to me, and what I think is a very exaggerated version of being dragged to the gates followed.

And I looked seriously hilarious as she did it. All indignant face and going all 'I was _talking_ to him!'

I'm sure this wouldn't be such a riot if people from Jadeites hadn't been in it. Stupid stuff like this happened all the time, but obviously someone from Jadeites found it hilarious.

"Cana's the beat, man," Gray snorted. "Look at her fly. I didn't know she had the hots for Laxus."

I rolled my eyes and ignored the whole crowd as I made my way to class. I found Cana soon after, and a very murderous one at that.

"I'll personally hunt down whoever took that video," I promised her, as we ran around the grounds for coming late.

"I don't care about the dragging part and all," she informed me. "Everyone saw me screaming at Laxus…"

Who gives a damn about him? I didn't say out loud.

It wasn't until the time that I was making my way to the gates at the end of day—my first ride back home with Crab, an auspicious moment—when Natsu caught me.

"Did you see that dumb video?" he asked me.

I raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, I did. And you still look pretty in it, if that's what you're worried about."

He looked exasperated. "No," he snapped. "That's not what I'm worried about. I was just making conversation."

I stared at him blankly. "Don't you have girls to pick up or matches to play?" I countered.

Another sound of exasperation. Gee, I wonder what sweet old me did to piss him off. "I wanted to talk to you about something."

"All ears until my stepbrothers leave without me," I told him.

"Yeah, so. You asked me about Yukino, didn't you?"

I perked right up, all ears until my stepbrothers fall and drown in the ocean. "Yes?" I urged.

"Well, I decided if I was going to be friends with you at all, I should better start out being able to trust you, since you just want to punch me half the time otherwise," he teased. "So since you asked… Lisanna basically dated me for about a year. Longer, I guess. And then everyone started talking about how she slept with that jerk of a Sting Eucliffe."

"And you believed them?" I asked, horrified. Typical Natsu.

"I didn't, until I asked Sting. And he told me liked her," he snapped. "So maybe it was true. I don't know. But about Yukino…I don't know what you want to know about her except that she's shallow. And since Lis and I… she's been really clingy."

"Don't you get it?" I said, annoyed at his slowness. "Yukino started the rumours!"

"Why? Because she likes me or something?"

"_Yes_!" I was yelling now. "And I'm just trying to figure out whether she was the bitch who told you all this crap, because you need to apologize to Lis."

"Language, Ms Heartfilia!" Gildarts shouted from behind.

I stared at Natsu. "Was he listening to everything we just—" I started.

"Yeah. Yeah he was," Natsu was suppressing a grin now, as was I, because the seriousness dropped.

Somewhere behind him, Zane called me, "Lucy! Come on in!"

"That's ride and my cue," I muttered to Natsu, brushing past him.

"Yeah. See you later," Natsu said, a bit too slow.

I looked over my shoulder, flashed him a smile and turned back to Crab. "See you later," I murmured to my nails.

And now. Yukino get some butt kicking. Sting gets a girlfriend to keep busy with. Natsu apologizes to Lisanna and Lucy saves the day again.

Just one thing kind of gnawed at me as I nodded away to Zane's excited lecture on how atmospheric electricity could be an illusion and whatever. If Natsu _did_ come clean to Lisanna, would they like, get back together again?

Not that I cared.


	7. Chapter 7

**Phew. That took a long time to write.**

* * *

**Seven**

I am going to die.

That was the only thought which raced around in my brain as I struggled to breathe. In my mind, thousands of tiny Lucy's were running around screaming their heads off and flapping their arms in panic.

The bed sheets pulled right up to my nose were now blocking my entire view, with something _tremendously_ heavy stretching from my face to my knees. The warm weight and the tangled sheets combined, I was completely flattened to the bed, desperately trying to claw my way out.

My fingers found escape and I almost had a heart attack when they came in contact with warm, moving fur.

What the hell man? This is _totally_ unfair. Zombies and vampires, I get. But furry things trying to push me into heaven and keeping dear love oxygen away from me was _the_ lamest way to die. I mean, even the horror factor was missing.

Then I moved my hand forward and felt the glossy fur more; like a dog.

Okay. It was living right? So I could totally kick its butt, dog or not. I heaved my whole body strength into pushing it off of me, not even sparing a second to wonder why a dog would be on top of me at four in the morning.

It stirred and with another push dropped to the floor; sadly, the dog too was tangled in the sheets and pulled me along with it, as I crashed to the ground.

And I ended up in the same darn position on the floor. Yay.

But my face was free and I could oh, _breathe_ again. Along with seeing Blondie the Golden Retriever staring down at me with pure innocence, one ear cocked up. He was stretched across the length of my body, crushing my abdomen.

Then he reached forward to lick my face, his hot breath smarting my face, and I caught sight of the drool down his muzzle. His wet nose wedged itself into my ear.

Oh hell no. I am supposed to die with a super hot guy holding my hand and thanking me for saving his life with my kickass moves and promising how he will love me forever. Not with a ten pound retriever and drooled on sheets on top of me.

But he was so _heavy_. It was impossible to move on the floor, and I couldn't push him off, even when I tried telling him.

I had one, embarrassing, totally not wanted option left. I gritted my teeth and prepared to call Zane across the corridor, when Blondie rolled off me himself. Then he lay upside down beside me, his tongue lolling out as he gave me a canine grin which obviously said, "Chill girl, I'll cut you some slack."

I glared back at him.

Then I somehow got out of the tangled mess of sheets and stood up, seriously disoriented. My hair was all over my face and mouth, and I pushed it back over my head to see that the alarm that had set off and woke me up indeed indicated four o' clock.

Sighing I bent down to correct it, setting it for seven. Then I looked at Blondie, who was pawing at the air.

"Now you, young man," I told him firmly, sitting down beside him. "You are to stop behaving like a puppy and learnt to be mature, okay? Otherwise no crackers," I raised an eyebrow incase he objected which he didn't.

And he wouldn't. Without any of the Day clan's knowledge—or the Aguria's'—Blondie would sometimes wag up to the deck at the backdoors and wait for me to feed him crackers or bits of cheese that Allen made.

How in heaven's sake did he make it to my _room_ and on my _bed_ at _freaking four in the morning?!_

To top it off, I smelt of dog. At any rate, I led him to the door and down the stairs, knowing he would find his way out without guidance. I had officially learnt my lesson about sleeping with my door open for one night.

Here's the thing. Me and sleep? The relationship's beautiful. You won't find a perfect one like ours.

The problem today was, sleep didn't come, mostly because the bed was in terrible shape and I needed a shower. So after I did take one, I didn't feel sleepy anymore, and I completed Jude's late dream. Me getting up early and walking around. Even if it was an early four.

Once I was in decent shape—or Jadeites indecent, if you think about my clothes—I made my way down the stairs with my iPod. I had about two hours until anyone in the house awoke, so I had time to go for a jog. Despite my constant complaints, Magnolia was rather amazing and pretty, especially in the morning fog. The sun had _just_ risen.

So I plugged the earphones in and headed out the back-gate. I was about to jog past the hedges of Yukino's house, and circle the neighbourhood, when I saw someone coming out. I moved back into the Day entrance, giving them space to go out first.

And _man_ was I shocked when I saw who it was. Gray Fullbuster, dark spiky hair and tall pale stature intact. I couldn't reign my mouth back in from its open display of surprise as I stood on my tiptoes to watch him button the last top button of his shirt and glance back at Yukino's house once as he walked past.

I moved out of the Day's. He made his way to his car—I hadn't noticed it, too focusing my attaching the earphones—and then got it, driving the opposite way, disappearing into the slight chill.

W-o-w. Either he just murdered the whole family, or he was _so _in Yukino's room the whole night for what I think it is.

That girl _really_ knows how to play around, huh? So she can't wait around for Natsu to start liking her, so she passed the time with _Gray_? And what about my poor stepbrother, Adam? He was head over heels for the younger girl.

Not that he had a chance. He would go away to college next year.

I shook my head in bewilderment, jogging in the opposite direction of her house, with P!nk bursting my eardrums.

Drama sure found its way around.

* * *

I felt so incredible rejuvenated at school today that I almost considered jogging early every morning with my tunes. Almost.

The period before break had been History, and we had been divided into four groups to debate on who knows what. I just played around with my pencils, waiting for my teammates to argue with how they were quite on the contrary when it came to the fact that the quality of weapons of the opposing countries in wars had no effect whatsoever on results.

Me? I think better guns go _bang_ better and if you don't have a gun, well, _sucker_. Deal with it. If everyone was like me, History class would be so much faster.

At break today, I found Mira and the others perched on the stairs right outside the main building, totally sunbathing. I twisted my hair up in a ponytail and headed over.

Gray was sitting between Cana and Laxus, talking solemnly to Laxus about Xboxes when I joined them. My attention was solely on Gray, because I couldn't believe him. But then, he didn't know about Yukino's bitchiness. Even that wasn't an excuse though, because the whole school was aware of her attitude to the best of my knowledge.

And hey, _I'm _the new girl.

I decided to not publicly humiliate Gray. So once break was over, I offered to go with him to dump our trays. He shrugged and gave me a pleased smile, obviously thinking I was finally into him.

As I dumped the empty trays, devoid of pizzas and Coke, I caught his shoulder, fisting over his shirt. "I gotta ask you something," I said bluntly.

He looked baffled but nodded. "Go ahead."

"Was it my imagination, or did you come out of Yukino Aguria's house this morning?" Well? You tell me, was there any more subtle way of asking my friend if he had slept with the girl who spread rumors about a guy's girlfriend sleeping with his arch enemy to get the guy all the while leading her neighbor on as well as having a dog who crawled onto my bed at four in the morning?

My question threw him and he shifted away. I dropped my hand as a hint of a blush crept up his cheeks. Pink tinged his pale cheeks. "That's none of your business, Lucy."

Yeah, maybe it wasn't. But if Gray or Adam were going to go happily trashing Yukino's house at night, I'd be happy to simply warn them of her character.

"Is it serious?" I asked, making my tone light and teasing now. Trying to imitate Mira's questions when it came to Rogue.

"Probably…" Gray averted his blue eyes away. "Can we drop it?"

"Gray," I said at last, throwing the Mira charade. I couldn't do it. "Yukino's not a good person. She doesn't deserve you, just trust me."

His eyes flashed up, meeting mine and holding them with his sudden icy gaze. "And who are you to say that, when you've been seven days in Jadeites?"

Ouch. That stung. "But she's not—" I started, but Gray was already walking away.

"Just leave me alone Lucy," He turned back to throw the words laced in acid and irritation at me, and then walked out of the cafeteria.

Somehow, his comment on me knowing nothing about her because I've been here for a short while hurt me. I gritted my teeth, fighting back hot tears of anger and annoyance and turned on my heel to get to class, ignoring the people staring at me.

* * *

"Ms Heartfilia, I asked you what the limit of this equation is."

Who cares? "It doesn't exist," I muttered back. The only reason I said that was because I was not paying attention to the teacher or the board, so I had no idea what a limit was. I just said the one thing I knew about limits from Mean Girls the movie and threw my chance.

"That's incorrect. Can anybody explain why?"

I stuck out my tongue at the teacher as he turned his back. Like a kid. That's not good; I'm hanging around Zane too much. One day I'll walk into school talking excitedly about the fab topics of our 294 page Physics book, and I'm still hoping for that apocalypse to hold up for a while.

Cana, who had become strangely closer to me, with her motivational insults and her craziness and her absurd loyalty to her friends, was sitting right next to me. She flicked a rubber at me and it hit me in the ear.

I looked at her with a I'm-so-not-in-the-mood-for-catch expression and she rolled her eyes. "What's up _your_ ass now?" she demanded.

Her emphatic statement caught my attention. Well half of it, the other half was focusing on how Yukino's head would look wedged in the toaster.

Gosh, I'm kidding! Loosen up.

"What's wrong with other people's asses?" I shot back curiously.

"Well, Laxus is pissed he lost his match, so that's one," Cana began to count off her fingers. "Mira, who is generally hard to irritate, is pissed at Laxus because he kept snapping at everyone after you and Gray left. Oh and yeah, Gray, he's spacing out and glaring at his watch. So that's another pissed."

She crossed her arms at me. "And I'm the angel trying to make peace," she said firmly. "So what's the prob?"

"People don't listen to you when you tell them something good, and you ended up watching that person regret it." I gave her the one minute version, before I noticed her awestruck expression.

"What?"

"Dude. That's like deep."

That did it. I burst out laughing, quickly transforming into a snort, then a cough as the teacher turned towards me.

Hey, you want details on how class ended? Fine, here's one not very important one; I ended up getting detention. Again.

"I think you've broken some new girl record by falling into detention this quickly," Cana told me as we walked out of class.

"What can I say," I muttered glumly, my bad mood back in action. "I like the attention."

It was on the way to my last class with Mirajane and another girl named Bisca I just met that I lost it. Bisca turned to go to Physical Ed. while Mira and I continued down the hallway, when Zane turned running around the corner and collided into me.

I staggered back and steadied him. He pushed his hair up and then said all in a rush, "Lucy, move! Now!"

Huh? I never knew my younger stepbrother was a geek as _well_ as a hallway athlete. I shrugged, about to move, when he gave an unashamed yelp and pushed past me, running off.

"Hey Zane, watch it!" I yelled after him, as Mira laughed. Her laughter stopped short when _another _freaking person collided with me, this time my back, and I almost fell to the floor.

"What," I said slowly, turning around to whoever had almost knocked me over in his hurry. "Did I say about physical contact?!"

I came face to face with another buff fifteen-year-old, probably from Zane's class. His face was red from running, and it wasn't until I saw Mira's blue eyes flash back towards Zane cowering near the lockers' dead end that I put two and two together to understand why he was running so hard. Some stupid bully.

"Sorry," the boy muttered to me, attempting to brush past and probably beat the heck out of my stepbrother.

Nuh-uh. Not happened. The only person beating the heck out of him is me.

"Hey, let me go, already!" He said loudly.

Zane shouted at me from behind, "Lucy, you're a senior right? Give him a detention slip!"

"What is this, a British boarding school?" I shouted back at him exasperatedly. Even if it was, who in their right mind would make me a prefect and hand me that authority? I'd be the first one to mess up the school.

"Zane, you're so not getting away this time!" The boy ignored me now, as I held his shoulders fast and prevented him to move past me and Mira.

"Woah back up kid," I told him, using little body force to hold him in place, struggling as he was. "What's your problem with him?"

He glared at me with dull green eyes. "Well, your brother's a know-it-all asshole, that's the problem! I'm in detention because of him!"

My eyes narrowed and bent down to face level with him. "Hey," I said, dangerously soft. "_No one_ calls him asshole except for me, you get that?"

"Well I do," he spat back. "And he's so going to get it now."

Okay, I swear I don't know how the next few seconds happed. Honestly, I'm _not_ at fault okay? It's like my fist had a mind of its own. One minute my right hand was on this guy's shoulder and the next it had sunk into his gut. Like hard.

Mira let out a gasp as he doubled over with a groan and a string of colorful profanities.

Come on, one punch to the gut and this is what happens? Boys these days, I tell you.

Zane appeared at my shoulder now, over his fit of cowering like a geek, and stared at me with huge, horrified eyes. Mira got over the shock herself and tugged on my arm. "Lucy, we really need to get to class."

I nodded. Better walk away from the crime scene.

"I've told you not to go about reciting school books, Zane," I rolled my eyes at him as Mirajane and I headed towards class. We would probably need a hall pass now from Makarov to get back into class. "Bullies don't like geeks," I gave the last bit of my advice with a that's-too-damn-obvious face.

But Zane was still gaping at the grunting boy who shot him and me a dirty glare. Sadly, I never got past the crime scene, because my favorite teacher just so happened to walk out into the hallway at this moment.

Zeref had one eyebrow cocked. He looked at Zane's little bully and then at Mira and me. "What happened?" he asked sharply. "Why are you all out of class? And exactly whose language did I hear a second ago?"

Suck on_ that_, bully guy!

"Ooh, so many questions," I muttered to Mira, and she suppressed a laugh, stepping on my foot to shut me up.

"She punched me," he shot at Zeref immediately.

Zeref looked at me with disgust and gave me detention before you could say _kickass_. "But I'm already in detention!" I complained.

He gave me a look which would have silenced Voldemort into hiding in a closet and eating cookies with a teddy bear. Then he dismissed us, asking us to get to class 'Right now!'.

Mira put an arm around me as we reached class, while I hoped I wouldn't land in detention a _third_ time for being so late. Cana was right, it was some record.

"You're just…what's that you say all the time? Yeah, fab," she grinned at me. "You're simply fab, Lucy."

I was finally fitting then. Or Mira was just the perfect friend, like Levy, because she didn't care about the flaws as long as she saw the good stuff. "I know," I winked at her.

* * *

Exhausted. That's how I felt when I finally walked out of a three hour long detention. Usually, the invigilator—or the Terminator as I called him—would make you sit upright and stare at the clock, not even allowed to do your schoolwork to save those precious few hours at night for TV.

Today, the first hour Mira was with me, for we both came late. The next two hours, the Terminator made us do all the homework for next month and I swear I can't feel my legs anymore.

I was wondering if I called Natsu and told him I was head over heels for him, would he give me a ride, when I stopped short in the front of the gates.

Crab was right there.

I heard my name being called by an impatient Adam—"Hey, run girl! Don't walk!"—and hurried forward, swinging my bag into the backseat beside Zane and getting in.

"You guys actually waited?" I asked, stupefied.

"Gee, you're welcome Lucy," Adam muttered, getting in himself and shifting the gear, starting the ignition.

I shrugged nonchalantly, though curious as to how they actually waited three hours for me to get out of detention when they disappeared happily on normal detention-and-loads-of-drama-free days.

"If you must now, Zane insisted," Adam informed me as we raced past the twilit streets. Yeah, _raced_. Old Crab isn't that old, it turns out. Now all that we need is for Crab to lose his claws and break down in the middle of the street so that everyone gets to know that these two geeks are my stepbrothers and this crock is the car I travel in.

I turned to the younger brother beside me, who was looking down, embarrassed. "Did you? Thanks."

He finally looked up at me. "It because…well Ian won't bother me anymore…because he thinks you're some scary demon stepsister who'll beat him up if he bullies me," he told me eagerly, but his ears were bright red. Obviously; which dude wanted his sister to beat up his human problems for him?

"_Not_ sure if that's what I want him to think," I muttered. "What happened anyway?"

"Well, he got mad because I totally beat him at the pop quiz in Chemistry. Actually, I was the only one with the answers," he admitted sheepishly, as if it was a crime. "So he was on the opposite team and totally blamed it on me. Droy really gave him detention 'cause he's been failing anyway and not studying, but he had to take it out on someone." He shrugged.

I stared blankly at him. "Didn't Allen ever _tell_ you don't go showing off your gray cells to kids like Ian?" I demanded, but rhetorically.

"Oh and Lucy?" Adam called back, turning a corner to Crane Avenue. "You better come up with an excuse as to why you're coming home late every day,"

"How does it matter?" I protested, even though it totally mattered. Come on, did Allen have cameras over the house and a CC TV in his bedroom to monitor my every move and cackle evilly as I stole Diet Cokes every night?

"So, what exactly did you do to that guy after Zane?" Adam asked. "He's been awestruck ever since he asked me to wait."

Geez. If it took one tiny punch to amaze Zane, I should use it more often to get what I want from him. Like homework done, even if I'm a grade ahead.

"She so beat up Ian," Zane told him brightly. I bit my lip; my butt-kicking didn't exactly go well with Adam.

"I just punched him in the gut," I amended.

Adam laughed. He actually laughed. He generally just slouches, eats, sleeps and smirks. The only time he laughed was when I made up with him after that tussle at dinner, and he found this situation funny when he was scared of my punching anyway?

"She's a piece of work," He said.

Zane grinned. "I swear her attitude comes in use sometimes."

"You should've seen her offering to demo kick that boy in her class that day," Adam continued, clearly talking about Natsu. I remember him being vaguely present somewhere behind Natsu, but since I had been pissed at him, I had not focused on it.

"Yeah, but she punched _you_ man," Zane told him smugly. "I mean swe-et!" He divided it into two syllables.

Sure. I'm a science specimen. Feel free to talk about me and my wonderful qualities.

I put and arm around Zane and knocked Adam in the head. "Oh boys," I said sweetly. "Stop it already," I gave a giggle.

The brothers got the hint and shut up. That was fast; I didn't even have to add _if you know what's good for you_.

* * *

**New report: It's a cold 42 degrees Celsius here in my city. _Not_. It's so hot, you can almost see people giving off steam around you. **


	8. Chapter 8

**So sorry for late update! I was chilling and studying and all the works in my hols so.. I made up with a bigger chapter? :D**

* * *

**Eight**

"Lucy!"

My door crashed open, the frame shuddering delicately and chipping the paint. It was loud enough to conquer over the beats of the music blasting in my ears, and I looked at the door to see Mom standing there, taking my headphones off.

"Um Mom," I said, slinging them around my neck. "Just knock softer next time, okay?"

"I have been calling for you at the top of my lungs, Luce!" Mom said angrily, over her shock of me seeing me unperturbed. "I've told you, keep your music to a minimum!"

"Oh," I rubbed my head sheepishly. "So, what's up?" I said brightly.

She glared at me, but said, "You have a phone call. Go answer it." Her face became softer, the irritation melting to delicate teasing. "It's a boy."

I rolled my eyes. Trust Mom to get all excited about someone of the opposite sex calling me and whisper in hushed tones, 'it's a _boy_'.

By the time I reached the phone, it must have been waiting for a good five minutes. I cleared my throat and held the receiver to my ear. If it was Natsu, I wasn't up for Yukino talks at eight in the evening. You know, the pre-dinner post-homework time I get for dear old me. Busy people need breaks too.

"Hello?" I really need my own phone line.

"So Lucy's not here right now?" I heard Gray's resigned voice, which sounded kind of expectant yet disappointed at the same time. Then I remembered I wasn't talking to him…or he wasn't. Whatever.

"It's me," I said stiffly. "Lucy."

"Oh," he perked up. "Oh. You sound just like your Mom so…I thought you didn't want to talk to—"

"What do you want, Gray?" My flat tone shut him up.

"Um. I just wanted to say…sorry," his voice, which already sounded deeper on phone, became all but inaudible when he swallowed the magic word up. "I didn't really listen to you today, and I just lost my temper…just sorry, okay?"

His apology, though expected, sounded pretty genuine. "Why couldn't you tell me at school tomorrow?"

"Because I just felt really bad…and it doesn't matter, okay?"

I almost told him to stop 'okay'ing me, but I didn't. "Hey, listen Gray," I glanced up to see the kitchen deserted. Except for Zane, who was trained at his PS3, so he wasn't listening to a word I spoke. "That's not the problem. Did you even think about why you got angry in the first place?"

I could practically see his blue eyes become static in annoyance. "There's nothing wrong with Yukino. What's your problem with me and her?" I detected the so-you're-jealous-huh tone, and I so didn't want him to get _that_ wrong impression.

"There's no pro—" I closed my eyes tight and opened them again, at a loss of how to explain. "She's just not a good person," I repeated. "She's just plain shallow…you know how she and Natsu—"

"Where did Natsu come in this?" Gray demanded sharply.

"I just know something about this…situation with her and Natsu and Lisanna…" I bit my lip in frustration. I couldn't very well go and say, "Oh by the way? I read your girlfriend's diary and found out she's actually playing three guys. But no problem, you can still have a shot."

"And why are _you _so obsessed with Natsu anyway?" He continued, snapping me out of my zoning out. "Why do you care?"

Why do I care?

The question left me baffled. Why indeed? Who gave a damn about their love triangle?

"It doesn't matter," I said tiredly. "I just wanted to tell you, you're going to end up regretting it."

"Lucy, I called to apologize. Not to hear you tell me which girl I should go out with."

I so lost my temper this time. "I'm not _telling you which girl you should go out with_!" I yelled into the phone. "I don't give a damn about that! I'm just telling you to be careful around her, get it?"

Dead silence.

Zane looked up at me, ignoring his losing game—a massive feat for him—and Allen poked his head out of his room, looking at me quizzically.

"Bye Lucy," Gray's voice brought me back to the conversation.

"No, wait Gray, I didn't mean—" I scrambled for the receiver as it slipped out of my sweaty hands, but he had already hung up.

Great. I did it again.

I slammed the receiver back into its built in phone in the wall and trudged up the stairs. As I crossed Adam's room, I saw Mom inside, bending over what looked like his sketches. He laughed as she said something and I sighed and walked past into my room.

Time. He gave me time and now I needed to know how to share my Mom.

At dinner tonight—enchiladas again—Mom noticed my mood. No one was really up for conversation, since Adam as usual was texting and drowsy. Zane couldn't talk while he wolfed his food down. Allen and Mom depend on me to generally babble on for everyone, but since I didn't, Mom started it.

"I went to get the car washed today," she said brightly to Allen. "And they have the nicest boy there. He even offered to take it downtown next week and get that dent fixed," she beamed at all of us kids. "For free!"

Brilliant. Thanks, Mom. We are all enlightened and our lives are _so_ much better now that we know this.

But Allen was frowning in agreement. "Yes. That kid with pink hair, right? He's the boss's son. Nice kid; always helpful."

Okay. How many people had pink hair in this town?

"Did you get his name?" I threw the question out casually.

"Oh, something Dragneel," Allen answered for me. "I don't know his first name. But the last time I went down for the car wash, he seemed pretty friendly to me."

"Good kid," Mom said in chimes. Allen grinned at her, obviously past the Natsu-is-daddy's-little-boy topic, and they had one of those eye contact moments which totally called for Zane's 'ewwww'.

They broke off, embarrassed, Layla blushing and Allen's eyes averted. It seemed that their romantic spacing outs still left them like tingly high school kids who just made out.

Just what I needed tonight. A fight with Gray and a dinner filled with how Natsu is the perfect little boy next door.

Everything's _so _wonderful.

* * *

"…Lucy Heartfilia, Juvia Lockser, Mirajane Strauss, Gray Fullbuster, Cana Alberona, Nick…."

I looked up at the small black speaker on the ceiling, with Makarov's voice blaring out of it. Even calm he sounded hyper.

"That's us," I told Cana. "I guess we _are_ going to be working together for the Music Festival."

She grinned at me and then slapped me hard on the back; her way of a friendly high five. "Bring on the booze!"

"You mean the guitars?" I said with a tortured smile.

"It's the same thing," she shrugged.

It wasn't really a big deal for your name to be called out to be a part of the music festival preparations, really. At the last moment, everyone would be doing something, or at least that's how it worked out at my last school.

Cana and I had already decided—and yeah, Gray too—to work on the stage. An excuse to skip classes and go frolicking in the sun and mess around with guitars? Not at all, just three smart people working hard for their school.

The announcement finished and I pushed my books inside my locker. Cana stood behind impatiently as I took my Computer Science text out, when Makarov's voice boomed out again.

"Lastly, Ms. Heartfilia, please report to the principal's office," there was a short pause as everyone who knew the new student swiveled their heads towards me and then Makarov's added "_Now_." finalized it.

Some of the kids smirked smugly at me, like 'Yay, the new chick's in trouble already' and Cana just grabbed my arm and rolled her eyes at me. "If it gets serious," she advised me. "Start talking about cherry lollipops. Makarov has a thing for them."

On that bit of wisdom, I turned on my heel and left for the principal's office. I hadn't been there since I first came, but I remembered it well enough. You simply can't miss gigantic furniture, huge windows, giant carpets but a tiny old dude sitting amidst it.

I knocked and was let in. I slung my bag over my shoulder, my book stashed inside, and waited. Makarov looked up from his desk and then his eyes narrowed.

"Lucy," he greeted. "Have a seat."

This must be the moment where I freak out, but I'm still hoping around for the day when a crazy teacher will make me a prefect and I'll accidentally burn down a classroom and go all, "_You_ gave me the prefect badge, sucker!" so I sat down without a hitch.

"So, I have been informed by,"—insert The Terminator (our detention invigilator) here—"That you have landed in detention not twice, but four times already?" Makarov started. He looked positively alarmed, which kind of offended me.

"Yeah…" I said lamely. What else could I say?

"Well, Lucy," he said, frowning at my obvious enthusiastic response. "This cannot do. Why are you in detention so many times when you're a new student? I haven't had any complaints about you."

Because I'm just so fab, teachers love me.

"Um," I began to count off my fingers. "Well, I came late on the first day because I lost my way…and I kind of punched this one dude…and I laughed, er, snorted _real_ loud in Math class," I gave him a and-you-know-how-unfair-the-Math-teacher-is look. "And I came late…again…"

He looked aghast. "You punched someone?"

I felt like giving him an account of the jock beating each other up in the cafeteria every day, but something told me he was more shocked at the fact of me with my blonde hair and huge innocent brown eyes punching boys to the ground.

"Sort of," I amended.

Makarov sighed, and for a second, I was afraid he was like dying or something. His face was rather paler than normal, and his eyes were tired. Then he looked up with a stern expression and he looked pretty alive again. "Well, I want you to refrain from such behaviour, is that clear?"

Cherry lollipops, cherry lollipops… "Is that clear, Lucy?"

"S-sure," I stuttered a second too late. "So clear." Cherry lollipops, cherry lollipops…

"You may leave for class now," he allowed. I almost asked him to scold me a while more, because I detested Computer Science, but I didn't want to be stuck in an enclosed space with a possibly dying old dude who liked lollipops at his age.

So I shrugged and got up, accepting the hall pass he gave me, and walking out of the door to hopefully find my classroom before, you know, fifth time detention.

As I walked past the lockers, I heard a small moan. I froze in my tracks, and turned my head back slightly. In the tiny space between two adjoining locker sets, were Adam and Yukino, playing tongue hockey, Adam's hands all over her.

I resisted the urge to puke.

I quickly walked past them. The image of my stepbrother making out with Little Miss Bitch was going to terrorize my dreams forever, now.

Ew. Gross.

At break, I didn't have much of an appetite. What with enduring Computer Science, fighting with Gray, being sent to the principal's office and watching my stepbrother make out with Yukino, I wasn't really in the mood.

So I popped open a can of Coke and sipped that for the break, while the rest of my friends talked on about the Music Festival. Mirajane had to tease me about Rogue thrice before she realized I wasn't glaring or making sarcastic comments. And it took her a minute to figure I wasn't even listening to her, since I had spaced out.

Before she sidled up to me and asked me what was up my ass, I asked her a question instead. "Where's Gray?"

Cana smirked. "Hanging out with the jocks. He totally ditched us." She was sitting next to Laxus; it looked like they had made up over their little tussle at the Dragneel Headquarters.

"Oh…" Suddenly, I felt kind of pissed. Gray couldn't just ditch everyone because he didn't want to talk to me.

I got up before I realized it, tossing my can to Mira. "Finish it," I told her. "I have some work."

"What work?" Lisanna asked me, as her sister raised the can to her lips, but I ignored her and jumped off the steps we had been sitting on. Then I made my way to the cafeteria, and sure enough, Gray was sitting on the jock table, as Cana called it. The one in the centre so that all the girls could fangirl over most of them, but also separate in a way. Like it was some huge division of 'we're so cool table' and the 'we're not really that cool' tables.

I moved fast to their table, pushing past the crowd of boys and finding him. Then I slammed my palm down on the table when nobody noticed me, and everybody shut up.

"Gray," I said firmly, staring directly at him. "Can I talk with you?"

He looked up at me and his smile faltered. "Not right now," he said testily.

"Now," I insisted.

Gray rolled his eyes and shook his head, turning to his friend, who he had been communing with until I interrupted him. "Get a new attitude, Luce."

And then everybody started to talk all at the same time again as the guys around me obviously noticed the end of the show, and converged around me until I half-crawled my way out.

For once, I was at a loss of words.

* * *

Get this straight: I don't normally cry.

Like very rarely. I'm cool if I get hurt (like in the injured way), I just wait for it to be ignored by other problems. I don't cry watching Marley and Me or reading New Moon.

So, I hope you understand why I was so incredibly puzzled as to why I was crying my eyes out on my bed after school today. Maybe it was because of what Gray said, about my attitude, or maybe it was because I couldn't make sense of what was going on and why the hell I had tried to be the hero anyway.

But I was so frustrated; the release just came out in saltwater.

Zane had accidentally come into my room to ask me something once, and once he saw me with my waterworks flowing on the bed, he totally freaked out and ran back out.

Well, hello? I'm a girl. I have hormones too. Which occasionally make me cry.

By evening I was done being angry, so I changed and went downstairs. I saw Adam talking excitedly over the phone—can't even look at the dude—and Zane hunting for food. He looked so adorable with his bottom lip jutting out in confusion as to why there was nothing but one bottle of soda and one bag of Cheerios, that I called out, "Hey, Zane!"

He turned to me, apprehensively, still scared I would start crying all over him or something. This guy will never survive with a girlfriend. "Want to get some food?" I asked.

He shrugged and nodded. His ears went bright red as he checked me over to assure himself the waterworks wouldn't come.

"Come on then." I swiftly took the keys from the hold and held the front door open.

Ten minutes later we were out in the chilly air, making our way to the nearest run down shop with fab junk food nonetheless. Zane, as usual, was in his messed up condition with uncombed hair, smelly T-shirts and mismatched socks but I guess that's what made him Zane.

"So, how are you liking Magnolia Lucy?" he asked me conversationally. He wasn't even looking up at me probably. I couldn't blame him for thinking he was going insane talking to me; one minute he watches me beat up his bullies and the next he sees my crying into my pillow like an idiot.

"I'm sure if you cleared all the people out it would be pretty cool," I teased. He gave me a ha-ha-so-not-funny-look and I amended, "I like it."

We turned a corner of the pavement and headed into the neon-sign lit little store. "It's still hard for you, isn't it?" He asked me, as we pushed the door open and walked inside.

"What is?" I asked absent-mindedly, looking around for healthy stuff like chips, sodas and crackers for Blonde.

"You know," Zane shuffled around me nervously. "Getting used to us and all," he paused when my eyes flashed to him but said anyway, "I mean...it must be hard for you…sharing your Mom with all of us and…" He got lost and tripped up on his words, but I got what he meant. Exactly what no one else had seemed to care about what with Adam happily calling her Mom and all, but the fifteen-year-old geek understood what I felt.

I realized with a pang that I was not the only one sharing. Their own mom had died a few years back, and adjusting to Allen remarrying again and getting a new stepsister and all must have been hard for them too.

Oh gosh. How selfish.

"I can get used to stinking teenage boys hanging around me and annoying me," I said at last with a joking wink. Zane grinned at me, because he understood the gist.

He grabbed three packets of chips and then raised an eyebrow, because I was still trying to figure what to purchase. "This," he said. "Is the real stuff."

I shrugged and assented. Then I grabbed four cans of soda and we made our way to the almost-on-verge-of-collapse counter. A young, scraggy looking boy of about nineteen or twenty sat up lazily as we dumped our stuff.

"Hey, Luce," Zane whispered to me. "Can we get those beers?" He pointed to the six-pack beers stashed up beside the counter in a towering pile.

I stared at him. "You're fifteen," I said.

He nodded. "I know, but Adam's having this party this weekend," He hurried forward to explain as I cocked an eyebrow. "Mom and Dad are going out .And he actually asked me if I could get a pack after school. Better get over with it and buy it today, yeah?"

Party? Parents going out? Hosted by my older stepbrother? Oh hell no.

I pulled out my wallet and paid the guy behind the counter as Zane begged and whined next to me. My wave of affection for him a minute ago totally vanished, and I wonder why.

"It'll be fun," he said brightly. "There'll be girls!" He looked so funny with his bright red ears and excited face that I didn't have the heart to say he wouldn't get a single female with that hairstyle. But I sighed and went along, hoisting the six-pack up; how bad could one party be? And this was the store where you could buy poison and no one would question.

So I thought. As Zane held the rest of the purchases, the boy looked at the beers and then up at me. "You can't have that," he said finally. He had a bass but squeaky voice, like a macho mouse.

"Why not?" Zane demanded.

The boy looked at him as if he were teaching numbers to a toddler. "Because you're underage," Macho Mouse said slowly.

"Well, I'll pay you double," I said. There goes my money.

"But you can't have it!" he snapped.

"Yeah?" I crossed my arms. "And who died and made _you_ king of beer?"

He looked thunderously offended. "My uncle," he said shortly.

Zane and I looked at each other with mild horror and suppressed laughs. "So sorry for your loss," My stepbrother offered. Macho Mouse glared at him.

"Look," I said. "I didn't want to do this…but you leave me no choice." I slammed both hands down on the counter and leaned over until I was an inch away from his face. "Give. Us. The. Beer." I commanded.

Five minutes later, Zane stared at me with fresh awe as I carried a polythene bag with a six pack beer in it.

* * *

I hung up as the phone rang on for the second time and then cut off. Gray obviously had my house number saved by now. And he didn't want to talk to me.

I fingered my food slowly tonight, not in the mood to eat really. Adam had been rather pleased when he found that I had purchased his alcohol for him, but my conversation with him as he thanked after hiding the six pack under the sink went a lot like:

"Hey thanks so much Lu—"

"Yeah," I nodded, trying not to look at him without being rude. I didn't need a reminder of his lips locked with Yukino's. "Okay. Welcome."

He sounded confused when he spoke next. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Gotta go. Homework."

Around ten, after dinner, I was sitting in the balcony of my room, staring out at the river winding past the forest. I thanked Allen mentally for giving me the room with the best view. I simply stared at the still water, lost in thought, when I heard a familiar padding sound behind me followed with a sharp yap.

I rolled my eyes and turned calmly to see Blonde wagging his tail at me, his tongue spilling out in a lopsided grin.  
He padded up to me and then sat upright beside me, like a friend would do. Then he pushed his nose into my arm, the way he did whenever I was late with feeding him cheese.

"What's wrong boy?" I murmured, running my hands through his silky fur. "Yukino making out so loud you can't sleep?"

Blonde gave me a confused look. "You're right," I agreed. "Who cares about her?"

He tilted his head to the side. "What?" I asked him. He looked back at me and then ignored me, running back into my room. I shrugged, knowing he would probably just go down again.

Totally not what happened next.

I looked back, expecting to watch him go back, when he tugged at a folder on my desk. I was still calm…not really bothered because all my school stuff was already inside my bag except just the…

My eyes focused on the blue-banded translucent folder. Except for every single one of the chapters I had been writing. I bit back a swear as I scrambled to get up; I had not saved any of this in my laptop, in fact I didn't have a clue where the laptop was ever since I came to Clover because I had been writing this story on paper for months and had stored it.

"No, Blonde!" I let out a squeak that sounded exactly like Macho Mouse female version, but I didn't have time to be ashamed. I stumbled after the Retriever as he turned back to see me run after him, think it was some doggie game, and bound down the freaking stairs.

That was my entire story! I'm so not letting him run off with it.

I leapt down the stairs, bounding down three steps at a time, before reaching the deck from where Blonde had snuck in. He disappeared outside.

"This is not a game, Blonde!" I cried. The kitchen was dark; everyone was in their rooms so I bumped into a few lamps before I made it out on the grass barefoot. "I'm not playing CATCH!"

Blonde yapped happily, obviously confirmed that whatever he was running off with was precious enough for me to play with him at night.

I ran after him full on now, out of the house and down the pavement, _away_ from Yukino's house. Great, I couldn't even follow him into a proper house.

The folder could come lose and the sheets could fall at any moment. I panted after the dumb dog, looking insane with my boxer shorts, tank top and loose hair.

"Blonde!" I shouted, and some people stared at me as I passed them. "I can't believe I got you those crackers!" I yelled.

Yeah, I know what you're saying. I could totally have waited until morning when Blonde would have come home and asked the Agurias for the folder, but who knew what Blonde would do with them?

I don't know how long I ran after him, but he finally disappeared under a large gate. I looked up to see a vast, brown-dirt area with broken down cars and unused buildings. Must have been some old office ground, and now a dumpster for ruined cars.

I was about to actually head back and logically call the Agruias to get their maniac pet under control, but my story wouldn't last that long. Blonde pawed forward, looking back at me, unimpressed my lack of knowledge concerning the game of catch.

Then he lowered the file to the dirt, and pawed a bit of the soil on it, until I realized he was trying to bury it like a bone. So _don't_ give me that look for yelping like a puppy caught in the rain, clambering over the spiky gates and dropping on the other side. Hard. On my ass.

I muttered a swear and then looked up to find Blondie scampering away again. The ground was dark and dirty and totally spoilt my shorts.

I sighed and got up from the ground, running forward and yelling his name.

This was going to be a long, long night.


End file.
